The Democratic mayor of Oakland, California is restoring to a tried-and-true political strategy after her home was raided by the FBI, blaming “right-wing” agitators for the unfortunate event.
Sheng Thao, the embattled 38-year-old mayor of one of the most impoverished cities in the Golden State, held a press conference on Monday where she spun the Bureau’s raid last week as a political hit job intended to pressure her and other progressives out of the city government. As she spoke in front of City Hall, protestors gathered nearby to call for her resignation.
VOTE: Do YOU Stand With Harrison Butker Against The Woke Mob?
“We’re not going down like that,” Thao said defiantly in her remarks. “The people who voted for me deserve to have their voices heard and communities prioritized. I’m seeking the truth right now just as much as you all are.”
The Daily Mail previously reported that a former mayoral aide has come forward to claim that the FBI raid on June 20th was part of a sprawling investigation into a pay-to-play scheme perpetrated by her live-in boyfriend. the worker revealed the alleged plans have opened a chasm in the pair’s relationship. Officers clad in FBI windbreakers were filmed and photographed carrying boxes of evidence from the house, a development that Thao suggested was part of a coordinated media effort to smear her.
WATCH:
“I want to know how the TV cameras knew to show up on my sleepy residential street so early in the morning to capture footage of the raid. And I want to know why Fox News and Breitbart were so prepared to fan the flames and to tell a story that they want to tell, to bend the facts to shape the narrative,” said the mayor.
Earlier in her remarks, Thao hinted that conservative activists may have played a part in instigating the raid.
“There are a lot of radical, right-wing forces who know they will never win an election in Oakland fair and square,” she continued, tearing up. “They know their extreme views are at odds with Oakland’s values, but they have built the rules to protect and preserve their power and maintain dominance over the rest of us.”
Thao ended her remarks without taking questions from the press.
Thao, who was elected in 2022, is halfway through her four-term term and is eligible for one more four-year term if she seeks reelection in 2026. Although nonpartisan, Oakland’s elections skew heavily toward progressive politics and are determined by rank-choice voting, which allows voters to select multiple preferences for an office and ultimately counts their votes toward candidates who avoid finishing near the bottom of the pack. Thao narrowly defeated her closest challenger by less than 2,000 votes.
Despite progressive dominance, blowback to the movement’s policies has been swift. District Attorney Pamela Price, who represents Oakland’s county, will face a recall election in November after a successful petition by residents who claim the progressive prosecutor has failed to protect them from violent crimes. Price, who rode the Black Lives Matter movement into office alongside other progressives like San Francisco’s former DA Chesa Boudin, who may experience the same fate: Boudin was recalled by voters in 2022.
(ALERT: This Is The Handshake That Will Collapse The US Dollar)