What Democrats Are Doing and Saying Is Politically Insane
FOX News chief political analyst Brit Hume on Monday's "Special Report" reacted to the Los Angeles riots over immigration raids.
"I've seen some things in my life that I thought were politically unsustainable," Hume told guest host Jacqui Heinrich. "I think what Democrats are doing and saying about all this is politically insane. I just don't think there's anything like a majority support for it."
She says, the ongoing arrests in California of families and children obeying the law are evidence of a broader pattern of ICE's renegade behavior across the country. The resulting peaceful demonstrations against these actions are a manifestation of understandable fear in our communities. What do you make of that statement?
BRIT HUME, FOX NEWS: Well, it's of a piece with what all these Democratic California politicians are saying, Jackie. And if you ask yourself this question, you know, what were the main things that got Donald Trump elected president? And one of them was certainly the inability or unwillingness of the previous administration to enforce the nation's immigration laws, resulting in a flood at the border and, you know, our cities and many of our cities being heavily populated with people who have no legal right to be here.
That is what ICE is now doing, enforcing the laws by going around and conducting these raids and arresting people who have no right to be here and can legally be deported. For them to call it renegade, for her to call it renegade raids is incorrect. And the other thing about this, Jacqui, I don't understand is, I mean, people can look at this and tell that when she says these are peaceful demonstrations, well, some may be, but a lot of them are not.
And, you know, people do not approve of chunks of concrete and rocks being thrown at cars. They don't approve of cars being set on fire. They don't approve of violence against law enforcement officers. And make no mistake about it, it's not the federal authorities or federal troops that are in there that are being attacked, it's the local police. And this talk by Nancy Pelosi, Governor Newsom and others, Karen Bass, the mayor, gives every appearance that they are on the side of these violent protesters. I think that's a terrible look for Democrats.
HEINRICH: It does seem like the responses across the political spectrum are coming from different universes. I want to ask you about the law at the center of all of this, though, from the president's response. It generally bars the use of U.S. military for civilian law enforcement inside the country, but there are key exceptions, exceptions that allow the military to enforce the law against U.S. citizens include congressional decree if an insurrection has been declared under the Insurrection Act or when state governments prove unwilling or unable to impose law and order. How important is it going to be, Britt, to sort of establish the rules of engagement here? Because if there's force used, this could turn pretty different.
HUME: It could get pretty ugly, but when the police chief or senior police officer of the L.A. Police Department says we're overwhelmed, that certainly sounds like it's opening the door to the use of U.S. forces to buttress local forces to restore law and order, which appears to be what's happening. It doesn't appear that these troops, by the way, are doing any shooting or any arresting. They're basically guarding federal installations out there, which frees up more police that don't have to do that to make the arrests and try to bring about order.
I've got to say, Jacqui, I've seen some things in my life that I thought were politically unsustainable. I think what Democrats are doing and saying about all this is politically insane. I just don't think there's anything like a majority support for it.
Now, Karen Bass has seen polls that suggest that people do support it. She's the mayor, of course, and I think she said that if it was local polling, it might be different. But this is playing out before, unmistakably, a national audience, and I think it's to the detriment of the Democrats and to the Republicans and to the president. It's like picking up money off the street.
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