One of President Donald Trump‘s former spokespeople slammed the president for sending troops to quell protests over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in Los Angeles.
“Donald Trump is misreading the room,” Alyssa Farah Griffin, who served as White House director of strategic communications in 2020, told CNN on Friday. “If he thinks that Americans want to see a clash between armed National Guard and U.S. protesters who are assembling, that‘s just not something that Americans want to see.”
The backlash follows Trump’s deployment of 4,000 National Guard members and 700 active-duty Marines to Los Angeles in response to widespread demonstrations.
The demonstrations first broke out in downtown L.A. last weekend and spread to other major cities. Trump has doubled down on his aggressive immigration crackdown, vowing to deport “millions” of immigrants in what he claims will be the largest mass deportation in American history.
Griffin was also asked on CNN News Central about what to expect from Trump’s military parade in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, where millions are expected to protest the Trump administration in demonstrations under the banner of “No Kings” at roughly 2,000 sites nationwide.
“Donald Trump‘s been very clear. Any form of protest he is going to respond to. And we‘ve obviously got this, this military parade celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army taking place tomorrow. And I think that there are genuine fears over if any sort of demonstrations and protests happen, what they‘re going to be met with,” she said.
“So I think there‘s going to be all eyes on tomorrow‘s events and really hopeful that it stays peaceful. But he‘s certainly conveying that he will tolerate no protesting,” Griffin added.
Trump has ignored California Governor Gavin Newsom’s calls to recall the National Guard.
On Tuesday night, Newsom likened Trump to “failed dictators” and warned Americans: “Other states are next.”
“Like many states, California is no stranger to this sort of unrest,” the California Democrat said in a livestreamed press conference. “We manage it regularly and with our own law enforcement. But this, again, was different. What then ensued was the use of tear gas, flashbang grenades, rubber bullets, federal agents detaining people and undermining their due process rights.”
“This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers, and even our National Guard at risk,” Newsom added.
Newsom also torched Trump for holding a military parade on Saturday, likening him to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, denouncing his “weakness masquerading as strength.”
The event is in celebration of the Army’s 250th Birthday and will be the nation’s largest military parade in decades.
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