U.S. Northern Command / X
To many Americans watching from the outside, the Los Angeles riots represent more than just the civil unrest the media has touted. Instead, onlookers are observing a growing double standard in how opinion-makers portray political violence depending on the cause behind it.
In the case of Los Angeles, Democratic leaders and corporate media outlets largely framed the events as “peaceful protests,” despite graphic footage of rioters smashing windows, setting fires, and attacking police.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-CT, urged rioters to “be on the streets,” while Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-CA, denounced President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard, calling it authoritarian overreach. Meanwhile, multiple media outlets echoed that line, notably casting Trump’s response as “unprecedented” and “unlawful.”
Yet the use of federal troops to restore order has clear precedents. In 1992, former President George H.W. Bush sent the National Guard, Army, and Marines into LA after the Rodney King verdict triggered days of rioting. President Bush’s action was met with bipartisan praise as a necessary step to restore public safety.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris claimed Trump’s deployment “is a dangerous escalation meant to provoke chaos” as part of his “cruel, calculated agenda to spread panic and division.”
But many Americans saw it differently, swiftly pushing back against Harris’ comments online.
“The country really dodged a bullet in November,” Fox News contributor Guy Benson posted on X. In another post, he added that the Democratic Party’s “official position is that they’re appalled by what’s happening in Los Angeles…because of Trump and ICE, not the violent rioters. In its current form, this party cannot be salvaged.”
The reaction to Harris was especially pointed given her past support of the 2020 Black Lives Matter (BLM) and AntiFa protests, which quickly spiraled into violent rioting.
As Minneapolis burned in 2020, Harris promoted the Minnesota Freedom Fund — a bail fund that later helped release violent offenders, including alleged murderers and rapists.
“That endorsement helped the Minnesota Freedom Fund raise $40 million, cash it soon used to release accused murderers, rapists, and thieves,” the New York Post reported.
At the same time, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz delayed activating the Minnesota National Guard even as police stations were overrun and businesses destroyed.
Newsom, now suing the Trump administration over its use of the Guard, had defended the unrest of 2020 in similar terms — saying rioters were “right to feel wronged” even as violent destruction spread throughout California.
The disparity becomes even more glaring when compared with the aftermath of Jan. 6, 2021. Over 1,000 people were prosecuted in connection with the Capitol riot — many for misdemeanors — while the FBI deployed facial recognition, geofencing, and labeled the incident “domestic terrorism.”
By contrast, media and Democratic leaders have largely focused their outrage on Trump’s response to the LA riots, rather than the rioters themselves.
This week, after accusing Trump of provoking a “civil war,” Newsom drew a sharp rebuke from the president.
“It’s just the opposite,” Trump told reporters. “I don’t want a civil war. A civil war would happen if you left it to people like him.”
