Saturday on MSNBC’s “Politics Nation,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) said while crime is a problem President Donald Trump sending the U.S. military into cities, which Smith referred to as “fascism” is not the answer.
Host Al Sharpton said, “Are you concerned with how the president and some Republican governors have begun to utilize the National Guard at this moment?”
Smith said, “Very concerned. I mean, there are two huge problems here. Number one, we are using the United States Military for domestic law enforcement. They are not trained to do that. Also the second big problem is this is Trump basically giving himself a national police force. He’s certainly doing it with the guard. He did it with the active duty Marines in Los Angeles. But when you look at what ICE is doing, it’s certainly ICE. They’re hiring a lot more agents, but he’s using every conceivable federal agency, the DEA, the ATF, the postal inspector service, to go out into our community and violate people’s rights to pick them up off the streets with no due process and lock them up.”
He added, “This is Donald Trump building a national security force that will serve his interests and not the interests of the American people. What’s he going to do with that? Well, I think January 6, 2021 gives us a hint, a clue as to what he might do with it. So, look, this is not what the military is supposed to be doing. First of all, it’s dangerous in the communities. Second of all, Trump is using it to enhance his own power, which we should all be concerned about. And look, you know, you’ve been in New York City, you know, Washington, D.C., look, crime is a problem. Fascism isn’t the answer. And that’s the message I hope Democrats send out.”
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