NewsNation political contributor Chris Cillizza on Monday criticized Democrats for condemning the Trump administration’s response to the riots in Los Angeles, California.
The unrest erupted Friday after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted raids in the Los Angeles area, with rioters reportedly attacking federal immigration officers and damaging public property, according to a Saturday statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). On his YouTube channel, Cillizza argued that Democrats should focus on denouncing the violence instead of placing blame on President Trump.
“Democrats appear entirely comfortable with playing along on this, which is colossally stupid from a political perspective,” Cillizza said, taking aim at Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom for daring border czar Tom Homan to “come after [him]” and “arrest” him.
“[Newsom] was on MSNBC on Sunday night where he basically said, like, to Tom Homan … he basically said, ‘Why doesn’t Tom Homan just come and arrest me? He’s not such a tough guy.’ I don’t know why that would — this is not about Gavin Newsom, right?” Cillizza added. “To personalize it like that makes no sense.”
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In addition, the former CNN correspondent called out left-wing Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters for her remarks as well that were directed at California National Guard troops mobilized by President Trump to protect federal assets and agents from rioters.
“She said, quote, ‘I don’t know why we have guns. What are those guns for? Are they to shoot protesters?’ Again, if you are looking at the images coming up on your TV screen — cars on fire, looting, people defacing buildings—and then you hear Maxine Waters say, ‘What are these cops doing?’ That feels tone-deaf to me, right?” Cillizza said.
“It feels as though Maxine Waters doesn’t get it, that people are like, ‘What? Like, this doesn’t make sense.’ Given what we’re seeing on TV, this appears to be … ‘Yes, law enforcement should respond to those things,’ right? Again, you must pick fights on your preferred ground,” Cillizza said.
