Journalism of Courage
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday said the judge who blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to deploy members of the California National Guard to Portland, Oregon, was “untethered in reality.”
“With all due respect to that judge, I think her opinion is untethered in reality and in the law,” Leavitt said. “The president is using his authority as commander in chief.”
US District Judge Karin Immergut, who was appointed by Trump during his first term, blocked the deployment of National Guard to Portland, saying the relatively small protests the city has seen did not justify the use of federalized forces, and allowing the deployment could harm Oregon’s state sovereignty.
Leavitt also said Trump “wants to help these local leaders who have been completely ineffective in securing their own cities.”
During the press briefing on Monday, Leavitt also denied allegations that Trump was attempting to take over Democrat-led cities with the military or National Guard.
“You guys are framing this like the president wants to take over the American cities with the military,” Leavitt said.
Citing the example of Washington DC, Leavitt argued that the deployment of the National Guard has hleped in figthing crime.
“The murder rate has declined significantly,” Leavitt said. “Our streets are safer. People who live here feel safer… It’s a proven system that works, and the president wants to make America’s cities safe again,” she said.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago also filed a similar lawsuit to stop President Donald Trump’s administration from sending hundreds of National Guard troops to the city.
“The American people, regardless of where they reside, should not live under the threat of occupation by the United States military, particularly for the reason that their city or state leadership has fallen out of a president’s favor,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said late on Sunday night that Trump was “ordering 400 members of the Texas National Guard for deployments to Illinois, Oregon, and other locations within the United States”.
In a statement, the governor called the proposed deployment “Trump’s invasion“, and said there was “no reason” to send troops into any state without the “knowledge, consent, or co-operation” of local officials.
Critics have accused the Trump administration of using the National Guard to take over Democrat-ruled cities on the pretext of fighting crime.
Trump first deployed the federalised California National Guard to address protests in Los Angeles in June this year, followed by Washington DC. Trump has also threatened to send the National Guard to other Democrat-ruled cities, including Chicago, Portland, Baltimore and New York, to fight crime there.
