“Trump wants chaos”
he protests happening in Los Angeles against ICE immigration raids have sparked quite a bit of tension – but much of it has been confined to the media while right-wing influencers are passing around a handful of images to show that the riots are out of control. Although the riots are largely unpopular and rightly so, Trump has clearly been itching for things to get out of control – by putting the National Guard on standby.
The problem is, they’ve stayed as just that. They’re just waiting at federal buildings while LAPD have pretty much had the situation under control. In fact, having them sit around has backfired with pictures of several deployed troops having to sleep on the floor in cramped conditions – something Gavin Newsom has called out as disrespectful to the troops, one of Donald Trump’s most consistent themes.
This is the right messaging on what’s happening in Los Angeles and where many of these protests have begun cropping up – as there’s an organic element that Republicans overlooked. Protesting peacefully without damaging property is always important to bear in mind – but the fact that Governor Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass both kept any trouble under control – suggests that Trump is the chaos agent. “Trump wants chaos” is the message to go with and Newsom has handled it rather well.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making