While California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom unduly lets protests boil over into riots, President Donald Trump is taking the initiative to deploy the California National Guard to cool the fracas, according to Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.
“I think what President Trump’s trying to do is pretty clear: He’s trying to de-escalate all the tensions that are there,” Lankford told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We’re watching [scenes of] burning cars in intersections and people waving [foreign] flags at local law enforcement, concrete blocks being thrown at federal law enforcement.”
Despite Newsom’s claims, that is not peaceful protest, and Trump has learned the lesson of Democrat-run American communities that just never learned the lessons of the 2020 George Floyd race riots, according to Lankford.
“We watched this kind of scene five-six years ago when there was a takeover in the Northwest around Seattle and Portland,” Lankford said. “When we watched all that happen and local law enforcement was being challenged over and over again, it finally took a National Guard presence to be able to bring it down after weeks.
“What President Trump is trying to do is say, ‘This is not going to take weeks this time. We’re not going to allow this to be able to spiral out of control.'”
It might be political expediency for Newsom and Los Angeles Democrat Mayor Karen Bass to let anti-law enforcement efforts turn violent, Lankford added.
“This is an American city, and to be able to have an American city where we have people literally flying Mexican flags and saying, ‘You cannot arrest us,’ cannot be allowed,” Lankford continued. “If someone violates the law, no matter what state that they’re in, they’re in violation of a federal law.
“They should face consequences for that.”
The NBC host attempted to demonize the Trump administration use of Marines as a force multiplier against violence, but Lankford backed that claim down with a defense of the Los Angeles Police Department needing help.
“Well, active duty Marines are not going to be put into local law enforcement. They would be in support roles on it, as we have in the border,” Lankford said. “We have active duty military at the border, but they’re not doing law enforcement tasks; they’re doing logistical tasks behind the scenes.
“Local law enforcement should take care of this. But again, when you’re seeing burning cars and federal law enforcement and law enforcement being attacked on the streets, and with thousands of LAPD, which by the way, do a great job.
“The LAPD has a great task in front of them and … they’re meeting that task with a great opportunity to be able to actually enforce the law.
“But it’s clear that they’re being overwhelmed, and as the protests rise we want to make sure those protests actually don’t spiral out of control.”
This is a problem that Democrat policies are creating to use against the Trump administration for political ends, Lankford concluded.
“Again, this wouldn’t be an issue if California didn’t promote sanctuary city policies to be able to tell people literally, ‘You can violate federal law and live in our state, and no one will arrest you for this,'” Lankford said.
“Now suddenly when they are arrested for federal crimes, then suddenly they go into this kind of protest saying, ‘No, you can’t arrest us here. We’re immune from federal law.’
“That’s not true.”
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