“Violence against law enforcement is never justified. But for them, if you’re using violence against law enforcement in the service of Donald Trump, then anything goes.”
View the full interview here.
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) joined MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell to discuss President Donald Trump’s wasteful use of military resources to create chaos in Los Angeles and the hypocrisy of the Trump administration in these raids after their treatment of insurrectionists after January 6th.
Key Excerpts:
On the Trump administration inciting fear against immigrant communities:
[…] They’re chasing farm workers through fields. They’re showing up at schools. They’re showing up outside of a Home Depot. They’re just grabbing people at traffic stops. They say they’re looking for one person, but they’re grabbing anybody they can get. And yes, people are going to protest that. And yes, people are going to be angry and they’re going to be fearful. And then for Donald Trump to add fuel to the fire by federalizing the guard over the objection of the governor, by calling in the Marines effectively. This is an arsonist trying to set fire to things and with predictable results. But I think the mayor was right to impose a curfew to make sure that we maintain the calm.
On the hypocrisy given the administration’s treatment of January 6 insurrectionists:
On January 6, there were hundreds of police officers that were beaten and gouged and bear sprayed. And among the very first acts of this president on his first day in office was to give pardons to those violent criminals. So, when we hear the president say that he backs law enforcement, when we hear the Attorney General say it, when we hear people like Kash Patel say it, it all comes across as a big fat lie, because the very first day in office, they did exactly the opposite. And this cannot be situational. You’re either supportive of law enforcement or you’re not. I’m supportive of law enforcement, whether it’s on January 6 or today, it doesn’t matter the context. Violence against law enforcement is never justified. But for them, if you’re using violence against law enforcement in the service of Donald Trump, then anything goes.
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