White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt suddenly ended a press briefing after facing sharp questions about free speech and protests.
Leavitt was speaking amid rising tension over Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Los Angeles. She blamed Democrats for “left wing riots” and stood by Trump’s claim that many protesters were “paid insurrectionists.”
The mood changed when reporter Jasmine Wright asked about the military parade planned for Saturday in Washington, which falls on Trump’s 79th birthday. Hundreds of protests are expected nationwide, and Trump warned protesters they would face “heavy force.”
Wright asked, “If there were peaceful protests on Saturday for the military parade, President Trump would allow that?”
Leavitt snapped back, “Of course the president supports peaceful protests. What a stupid question.”
Minutes later, New York Times reporter David Sanger pressed on the issue of free speech.
He asked, “Is the First Amendment the most important? Is stopping violence the most important? Why is he not out saying all peaceful protesters will be protected?”
Leavitt replied, “that is not the majority of the behavior that we have seen taking place in Los Angeles.”
Sanger pushed further: “So are you saying the majority of these protests have not been peaceful?”
Leavitt pointed to nearly 400 illegal immigrants arrested, while Sanger noted thousands were on the streets.
After more back-and-forth, Leavitt ended the briefing abruptly, saying Trump will not back down from deporting illegal immigrants, then walked out without taking more questions.
This 26-minute briefing comes as Trump’s administration faces criticism for sending nearly 5,000 troops, including Marines and National Guard, to Los Angeles.
Free speech is a sensitive topic for the White House. Trump has long claimed to defend it. The First Amendment protects religion, speech, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government.
Right after his second inauguration, Trump signed an executive order promising to protect the right to “speak freely in the public square without government interference.”
“Government censorship of speech is intolerable in a free society,” his order said.
But this week, Trump warned he would crush protesters blocking his immigration plans or his big military parade.
“If there’s any protester that wants to come out, they will be met with very big force,” Trump said Tuesday. “I haven’t even heard about a protest, but you know, this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force.”
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