Tuesday on CNN’s “News Central,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) said it was “pretty clear” that President Donald Trump wanted his own domestic police force.
Co-host Kate Bolduan said, “I want to ask you about the president’s takeover of the police force in in D.C.. He’s sending in the National Guard, and the Secretary of Defense says that there are other specialized units that they are prepared to bring in as well. As I mentioned, you’re the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. What do you think of this?”
Smith said, “Well, I think it’s once again, Trump using the military to exert power and influence domestically in a way that should alarm us all. I mean, it’s similar to what happened in Los Angeles. Look, this president is is trampling on basic freedoms of the American people to a degree, I don’t think we’ve ever seen. You see that with what the ICE agents are doing in terms of picking people up off the streets with with no evidence, no due process, locking people up. This is happening all across the country.”
He added, “Look, it’s pretty clear the president wants his own domestic police force and step by step, he’s trying to create it. We should be deeply alarmed by that regardless of how you feel about crime in Washington, D.C., or any other city. I mean, certainly I think we can we can always be doing better on enforcing the law and protecting our citizens in various different places but there’s ways to do that without involving the Department of Defense. That’s step is a huge step towards an autocratic government with a president who has his own domestic police force. So that’s the biggest thing that alarms me about it.”
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