Congressional Cowards is a weekly series highlighting the worst Donald Trump defenders on Capitol Hill, who refuse to criticize him—no matter how disgraceful or lawless his actions.
You’d think that Republican lawmakers—who love to preach about the importance of respecting states’ rights and freedom of speech—would be aghast at the sight of a president deploying the National Guard and the Marines to Los Angeles against the wishes of California’s governor in order to police overwhelmingly peaceful protests.
But given that it’s their Dear Leader who sicced the military on civilians in order to gin up support for his Immigration and Customs Enforcement goons and unfairly tie Democrats to the actions of a scant few anarchists, Republicans are largely all on board with the dystopian imagery coming out of Southern California.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said it was “necessary” for President Donald Trump to send the Marines to L.A., and refused to break with the president after he called for California Gov. Gavin Newsom to be arrested.
And when asked at a news conference if there was any red line for House Republicans when it comes to Trump’s use of the military against civilians, Johnson refused to answer.
“Look, I’m not going to engage in hypotheticals,” Johnson said on Tuesday.
Rep. Bryan Steil of Wisconsin also voiced support for sending in the Guard.
“I’m concerned about the violence and lawlessness that we saw last night in the community of LA,” Steil told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “I think what all of us would like to see is the reestablishment of public safety immediately. The failure of LAPD to be able to get that under control last night, I actually think, speaks volumes about the need to make sure that there’s additional human capital at the disposal to make sure that we are able to reestablish public safety.”
Over on the Senate side of the Capitol, Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton wrote an entire op-ed in The Wall Street Journal saying that deploying the National Guard to Los Angeles—even though the city’s own police department chief said it wasn’t necessary—was the right move.
“At the risk of again sending liberals to their fainting couches, it may indeed be time to send in the troops,” Cotton wrote, adding that there needs to be “an overwhelming show of force to end the riots”—even though the protests were not riots and the LAPD said they didn’t need help.
Related | Trump just deployed troops to California—where my son is in the National Guard
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who is somehow struggling in a primary against a corrupt MAGA lawmaker in Ken Paxton, is apparently trying to win over Trump supporters by saying he was cool with Dear Leader’s authoritarian show of force.
“I think he needs to restore order,” Cornyn told The Bulwark. “I’m mainly concerned about public safety and the president has clearly got authority in his federal capacity to deal with the National Guard. So, plenty of precedent.”
Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana told The Bulwark that Trump had to send in the military, even though neither the LAPD nor Newsom said it was necessary.
“I don’t think that the president had any choice,” Kennedy said. “These weren’t just protests—these were riots. And it was clear that the governor and the mayor—the mayor’s idea of containment was to give them a hug and a cup of hot cocoa. And the president did what he had to do.”
Even the Republicans who are criticizing Trump’s authoritarian actions are doing so in a tepid way.
Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said he backed sending in the National Guard, but deploying the Marines was a step too far.
“You really don’t want to send in the U.S. military. You’ve got, I think, plenty of National Guard troops. If the governors use them,” Johnson told a local Wisconsin radio show. “I think that is what President Trump is trying to do. Put a little spine into these governors.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska gave a perfunctory “Yes” when asked by a reporter on Capitol Hill if she had concerns with Trump’s use of the military to control protests, then jumped into a closing elevator without elaborating.
How brave.