Trump has zero credibility on the LA protests, but that may not matter
Washington: 'These are not protesters, they are troublemakers and insurrectionists,' US President Donald Trump said of people clashing with police on the streets of Los Angeles. 'They should be in jail.'
Trump may have a point about some of the more extreme elements that have joined the protests in America's second-largest city to smash windows, loot and set cars on fire.
But it's difficult to take him seriously – indeed, it's difficult to afford him any credibility at all – when this is the same man who just months ago pardoned and celebrated the rioters who stormed the US Capitol in his name on January 6, 2021.
In LA, a relatively small group of protesters, demonstrators, rioters – whatever you want to call them – are copping the brunt of law enforcement and even the US military. In DC, Trump circumvented the legal system to set them free, even after some were convicted of seditious conspiracy, and lionised them as hard-done-by patriots.
We may not be surprised by such blatant hypocrisy, but it is still striking to see it manifest so clearly, so obviously.
No wonder the Democratic governor of California, Gavin Newsom, is so incensed by the treatment doled out to protesters in his state – even those whose behaviour he condemns.
Liberal California is a favourite and familiar punching bag for Trump. During last year's campaign, and even in the middle of January's deadly bushfires, he threatened to withhold aid from the state if Newsom didn't bow to his demands on water policy.
Every authoritarian regime needs enemies. And it's difficult to get away from the feeling that Trump is making an example of California as he presses on with the next phase of his mass deportation plan, and seeks to keep the domestic focus on immigration, and law and order.
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