LA riots make many Americans glad Dems are not in White House | Opinion – USA Today

As I’ve witnessed photos and videos of the burning cars, masked rioters wielding Mexican flags, blocked freeways and looted stores in Los Angeles in recent days, my conclusion is this:
I’m glad Donald Trump is president. And I’m not alone. 
Voters in November chose Trump in large part to address the surge in illegal immigration that former President Joe Biden allowed to happen for years, letting millions of people flood our borders. 
Trump has followed through on his campaign promises to close the border and to deport many of these immigrants who’ve flouted the law. 
By doing their job, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents purportedly have sparked the mayhem and violence in LA, and which is now spreading to other parts of the country. 
California Democrats like Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom are wringing their hands that Trump has deployed the National Guard and now the Marines to help quell the violence, even though state and local leaders certainly don’t have the situation under control. 
Rather than call out the bad behavior, Democrats and the news media appear to condone the rioting – and downplay what’s actually happening. 
It’s an odd strategy, and one that shows why Democrats continue to struggle to connect with average Americans. 
One Democrat at least gets it. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman is once again standing up to the craziness within his party and calling it like he sees it.
On X, Fetterman posted a photo of a rioter with a Mexican flag standing on a destroyed car surrounded by flames. It looks like a scene out of Gaza – not the United States. 
Fetterman wrote this: “I unapologetically stand for free speech, peaceful demonstrations, and immigration − but this is not that. This is anarchy and true chaos. My party loses the moral high ground when we refuse to condemn setting cars on fire, destroying buildings, and assaulting law enforcement.”
Fetterman is absolutely correct. For years, Democrats have obsessed over the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after Trump lost the 2020 election. Yet, Democrats make themselves look like hypocrites when they are OK with violence that fits with their anti-Trump policy objectives. 
Consider some of the responses to the rioting from high-profile Democrats and media figures: 
∎ “The vast majority of protesters and demonstrators are peaceful,” California Sen. Alex Padilla said on MSNBC. “They’re passionate.”
∎ New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker blamed Trump for what’s happening. “A lot of these peaceful protests are being generated because the president of the United States is sowing chaos,” Booker said on “Meet the Press.” 
∎ Former Vice President Kamala Harris and 2024 presidential candidate posted a statement that called the spectacle “overwhelmingly peaceful” and criticized Trump for “ICE raids” that are part of the administration’s “cruel, calculated agenda to spread panic and division.”
∎ Not to be left out, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote the following on X: “California Governor Newsom didn’t request the National Guard be deployed to his state following peaceful demonstrations. Trump sent them anyway. … Trump’s goal isn’t to keep Californians safe. His goal is to cause chaos, because chaos is good for Trump.”
∎ Brian Stelter, CNN chief media analyst, shared this quote on X from The American Prospect, a progressive magazine: “These protests, which have been abbreviated in the media as ‘unrest,’ were actually a cry of hope, and a reminder of the human need for community, the need to turn to each other to find something to believe in.”
You get the idea. Burning vehicles and throwing rocks is somehow peaceful. Attempting to stop the violence and enforce the law is somehow instigating it.
But to me, and millions of other Americans watching what’s happening in LA, the protests look like lawlessness.
They’re also a great reminder of why we didn’t want Biden (or Harris) for another four years. 
Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X: @Ingrid_Jacques 

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