Politics Is Preparing for Things to Get Worse: At the White House press briefing yesterday, Karoline Leavitt fielded two questions about Donald Trump’s possible approach to an opposition movement expected to only get louder as the week goes on.
On protests: “Of course the president supports peaceful protests. What a stupid question,” she told NOTUS’ Jasmine Wright after Jasmine asked if the president would allow peaceful protests at this weekend’s big military parade (Trump said Tuesday, “If there’s any protester that wants to come out, they will be met with very big force.”)
On the First Amendment: The president has not spoken of protecting the First Amendment rights of protesters, one reporter pointed out. “Two things can be important at the same time, and the president, as I just answered, supports the right of Americans to peacefully protest,” Leavitt said. “He supports the First Amendment. But that is not the majority of the behavior that we have seen taking place in Los Angeles.”