'Basically an arsonist': CNN's Dana Bash ridicules Trump over demand for thanks
CNN's Dana Bash ridiculed President Donald Trump over a Truth Social post demanding L.A. officials thank him for sending in National Guard troops to quell protests.
"I know that...this is a promise that he gave on the campaign trail to do whatever he could to deport illegal immigrants," Bash said on Monday's Inside Politics. "But what he just posted is, is basically, an arsonist saying, 'You better call the fire department because they've got to come in fast to get the flames out. I mean, that seems like what's going on."
Trump sent the post Bash referred to on Monday afternoon.
"We made a great decision in sending the National Guard to deal with the violent, instigated riots in California," Trump wrote. "If we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated. The very incompetent 'Governor,' Gavin Newscum, and 'Mayor,' Karen Bass, should be saying, 'THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP, YOU ARE SO WONDERFUL. WE WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT YOU, SIR.' Instead, they choose to lie to the People of California and America by saying that we weren’t needed, and that these are 'peaceful protests.' Just one look at the pictures and videos of the Violence and Destruction tells you all you have to know. We will always do what is needed to keep our Citizens SAFE, so we can, together, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
Earlier in the show, panelist Manu Raju commented on Trump's claim that "Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated."
"Now, I'm not quite sure if that's exactly the case of what people are saying on the ground here," Raju said, "but I mean, look — sending in the National Guard is just an extraordinary step for the federal government to do."
Multiple officials, including California's governor and L.A.' mayor, have slammed Trump for ordering in the National Guard against their wishes. They said it poured gasoline on the protests.