Congressional Democrats are issuing contradictory messaging on the riots in Los Angeles in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids detaining illegal immigrants with lawmakers unable to agree about whether well-documented violence is even occurring.
Democratic California Rep. Maxine Waters, who represents a segment of Los Angeles county, has repeatedly dismissedreporting that riots have taken place — while across the Capitol, Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman has characterized the demonstrations as “anarchy and true chaos.” The Daily Caller News Foundation pressed Democratic lawmakers about the widespread damage to property and physical confrontations with law enforcement occurring during the riots, during a series of press conferences Tuesday.
Democratic lawmakers’ diverging statements showed a party struggling to speak from the same message regarding the violence occurring in Los Angeles with some downplaying or even denying the unrest circulating on social media that millions of Americans have seen with their own eyes.
“Even those who were out of step with what we were advocating, [which is] peaceful protest, did not create any violence,” Waters, who has repeatedly disputed that violence has occurred during the demonstrations, said during a press conference Tuesday. “Nobody was shot, nobody was killed. Get it through your head.”
“Don’t miss the point, you all. Don’t think that because somehow because they called out the National Guard, there was violence,” Waters added. “There was no violence. I was on the street, I know … don’t just rely on what you’re being told in the few incidents that you saw.”
House Democratic leaders have issued blanket statements condemning “lawless” actions during the riots while declining to criticize Waters’ claims.
“Anyone who is lawless or loots or commits a crime should be punished,” Democratic California Rep. Pete Aguilar, the House Democratic Caucus chair, told the DCNF during a press conference Tuesday. “That is the House Democratic Caucus position.”
Though Aguilar appeared to condemn the violence occurring during the riots — while blaming escalating tensions on President Donald Trump’s deployment of national guardsmen and marines — he also appeared to stand by Waters’ claim that “no violence” has taken place in Los Angeles.
“I would argue ‘Listen to the LA members.’ I’m from Southern California, I would argue, ‘Listen to my colleague who represents LA county,’” Aguilar said in an apparent reference to Waters. “This is something that local law enforcement clearly has under control, and the images on TV keep showing the same burning car over and over — 99% of the city is moving on just as business as usual.”
“I think everyone is entitled to their opinion,” Congressional Black Caucus chair Yvette Clarke of New York told the DCNF Tuesday of Waters’ statement that “no violence” has occurred in Los Angeles. “She’s there on the ground and she has her own observations.”
When another reporter asked a group of House Democrats Tuesday to respond to Fetterman’s criticism that the Democratic Party has “lost the moral high ground” by not sufficiently condemning the violent riots, the Democratic lawmakers immediately pushed back on the question.
“We all did,” the cohort of House Democrats exclaimed individually. Democratic California Rep. Jimmy Gomez, the Democratic lawmaker leading the press conference, immediately moved onto the next question.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer also said the violence perpetrated by individuals protesting the Trump administration’s deportation efforts is “outrageous” in response to a question from the DCNF Tuesday.
“The bottom line is that violence in the riots is outrageous and should never happen, full stop,” Schumer said before proceeding to denounce Trump for deploying Marines to the city to join National Guard troops to help end days-long riots.
House Republicans’ campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), hit Democratic lawmakers for refusing to consider the question.
“While LA is burning and law enforcement is being attacked, radical House Democrats are ‘scoffing’ at any thought of condemning the violent riots,” NRCC Spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement. “The party has completely lost their minds, and they’d prefer violence over enforcing our nation’s laws.”
Speaker Mike Johnson dismissed Waters’ claims suggesting that the LA riots have been a “peaceful protest” during the House GOP leadership press conference Tuesday.
“Bless her heart,” Johnson said in response to a question from the DCNF about Waters’ remarks. “I don’t even know how to comment on Maxine Waters anymore. It’s madness.”
House Republicans, led by California Republican Rep. Young Kim, introduced a resolution Tuesday to formally denounce the violent riots occurring in Los Angeles, Fox News Digital first reported.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect Schumer’s statement.
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