Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) got taken to school today when she appeared on CNN and attempted to blame protests in Los Angeles against the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant policies and mass deportations on “criminals.”
On Saturday, Trump sent in the National Guard to quell the protests, and that was the right thing to do, Malliotakis asserted.
“You see ICE agents attacked, you’ve seen their cars put on fire, stones thrown at them –– this is unacceptable and you’re also talking about enforcement of our immigration laws.”
The people taken into custody, Malliotakis continued, were “gang members, these were drug traffickers, human smugglers, people who committed robbery, child abuse, sex, offense, the worst of the worst.”
“The fact that, look, we would not have this situation in Los Angeles if it were not that they had this sanctuary status that refuses cooperation with ICE agents. It makes it more dangerous for everyone, the agents and the community when the ICE agents have to go in there and find these criminals instead of the city and state turning them over,” the congresswoman added.
Former DOJ Public Affairs Director Xochitl Hinojosa, however, quickly eviscerated Malliotakis’s talking points, which were clearly taken directly from the White House.
“Well, it was also children and mothers, and there’s video of violence against these ––are mothers and small children and the videos are terrible,” Hinojosa explained. “What I’ll say is it is a president’s responsibility to de-escalate a situation anytime there is violence in our country. Then they should work with local law enforcement to do that.”
“What happened here is sending in the National Guard only escalates it,” she continued. “Hegseth saying that he wants to send in the Marines that are equipped for war only escalates it. You know, arresting the president of SEIU and going in and conducting raids only escalates. The interesting part about this is the Department of Justice would normally go in through the Community Relations Service; they did this with George Floyd. They’ve done this with a whole bunch of other instances where they go in and they work with state and local law enforcement to de-escalate what is happening.”
Hinojosa then dropped a truth bomb on Malliotakis and other GOP shills in Congress.
“The problem here is that Trump essentially fired everyone in the Community Relations Service. I worked there. The federal government’s role is to help state and local law enforcement to de-escalate. He essentially got rid of all of those employees because he does not believe in civil rights, and instead, he’s escalating it by sending in the National Guard.”
Had the protests taken place in Florida, Georgia, or Texas, Trump would never have sent the National Guard. He’s just trying to show up California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, both of whom are Democrats and opposed to the administration’s draconian immigration policy.
Also, the fact that Trump was so quick to mobilize troops is a bad omen for what he has planned in the future. Don’t be surprised if major cities in blue states — i.e. Illinois and New York — are treated with the same heavy hand by the administration. It’s all part of Donnie’s attempt to look tough for his radicalized base of supporters, even if it leads to bloodshed. Tyrants love unrest. It gives them an excuse to attack those who disagree with them.
Some very dark days are ahead in this country. Strap in. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
