Politics
WATCH: Hegseth Schools Democrat Rep Over 2020 Riots, She Changes Subject FAST
A heated exchange erupted Tuesday during a House hearing as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shot back at Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) after she criticized President Trump’s decision to deploy U.S. Marines and National Guard troops to riot-stricken Los Angeles.
McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat, used her time to scold Trump’s recent executive order authorizing federal military deployments to restore order amid days of escalating riots tied to ICE operations in California. But Hegseth wasn’t about to let her rewrite history.
“I recall 2020 quite well,” Hegseth told McCollum. “Governor Walz abandoned a police precinct and allowed it to be burned to the ground… and also allowed five days of chaos to occur inside the streets of Minneapolis.”
McCollum had attempted to frame the current unrest in L.A. as being less severe than the George Floyd riots, insisting that local police and the National Guard were enough to handle things in her state back then.
“I was in the Twin Cities during the riots that followed the murder of George Floyd… At no point did we need… the Marines to be deployed,” McCollum said during her opening remarks. “Law enforcement and the National Guard are more than capable of handling situations more volatile than what happened this weekend.”
But Hegseth fired back with facts that hit close to home. “The police precinct, ma’am, was abandoned and burned to the ground. And because of that, the National Guard was eventually, far too late, mobilized.”
WATCH:
Trump’s decision to send in troops follows scenes of growing anarchy in Los Angeles—vehicles torched, stores ransacked, and mobs openly threatening federal agents. Still, officials like Mayor Karen Bass downplayed the chaos, calling the situation “calm” while news cameras showed otherwise.
Hegseth defended the federal response, stating, “We believe ICE… has the right to safely conduct operations in any state and any jurisdiction in the country… Especially after 21 million illegals have crossed our border under the previous administration.”
McCollum attempted to steer the conversation back toward military budgets. “What is the current cost for what is taking place in California?” she asked. “Where in your limited budget, sir, are you going to find in the remainder of this fiscal year… to cover these deployments?”
Hegseth didn’t take the bait. “You asked about the situation in Los Angeles, and we believe ICE agents should be allowed to be safe in doing their operations,” he replied. “There are 17,000 LAPD. There would be 18,000 if not for the defund movement that folks like Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass have implemented.”
He added pointedly: “The police chief said she was overwhelmed, so we helped.”
With no solid rebuttal, McCollum abruptly cut things short. “Mr. Chairman, if the secretary’s not going to ask the budgetary questions, I will yield back my time.”
