‘Leavitt Lies and Lies!’: Karoline Leavitt Visibly Upset, Stumbles After She’s Pressed On Facts About a Non-Existent Reality Trump Keeps Lying About
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt launched into a testy tirade against a CNN reporter in trying to justify President Donald Trump’s attempts at sending another state’s National Guard troops into Portland, Oregon, over a different version of reality than what’s actually happening on the ground in the city.
Trump keeps insisting that chaos and mayhem are playing out in Portland and that he has the right to send in federalized National Guard troops from California to take control, and that’s after an Oregon judge ruled against his efforts at sending in federalized National Guard troops from Oregon.
Leavitt angrily lashed out at CNN host Kaitlan Collins after Collins asked “which local officials in Portland have said that the National Guard is needed there if any?”
Leavitt, true to form, sidestepped the question completely, instead offering up Trump’s version of reality in trying to send federal troops into Democratic-run cities.
“In reality and in the law, the President is using his authority as commander in chief, US Code 12406, which clearly states that the President has the right to call up the National Guard in cases where he deems it’s appropriate,” she claimed.
“And if you look at what has happened in Portland, Oregon, for more than 100 nights, I was talking to our law enforcement team about it this morning, for more than 100 days, night after night after night, the ICE facility has been really under siege by these anarchists outside,” Leavitt argued.
“They have been disrespecting law enforcement; they’ve been inciting violence,” she said in trying to justify Trump’s orders.
Leavitt then cited a different ruling by a Los Angeles-based judge that the President was within his authority to send in troops and mentioned that the administration is appealing the ruling by the federal judge in Oregon over the weekend.
Collins then interjected, “I spoke to the police chief of Portland last week and he said that the President’s claims just don’t match up with what’s happening on the ground.”
The ill-tempered Leavitt then tossed distorted facts back in Collins’ face even stumbling at times.
“I would encourage you, as a reporter to go on the ground and to take a look for yourself because there’s been many members of the press, not press in this room, but independent journalists, some of whom we’ll be inviting to the White House very soon to share their stories because they have been in the middle of these riots, and they have witnessed the anarchy that is taking place night after night,” she kept insisting.
This X user had a lot to say about Trump’s politicizing of federal troops.
“Trump is breaking the law! In Trump’s attempt to score points from his supporters by authorizing the National Guard to police ‘blue cities’ (his words). If Trump cared about crime, he would have discussed crime as happening everywhere.”
Another X user agreed, “Well her first sentence is wrong, the law she cites at doesn’t say the President can call up the National Guard ‘in cases where he deems it appropriate’, it says he can do it in specific circumstances such as foreign invasion.”
Another social media user posted a narrated satarical video of all the violence happening in the “war zone” all across Portland.
X user Matt Wylie summed it up like this, “The Constitution is clear: The military exists to defend the republic from foreign threats, not to be wielded as a political weapon at home. To even hint otherwise is reckless, unconstitutional and corrosive to the fabric of a free nation.”
Some viewers wanted even more pushback from Collins, “I watched the entire presser. You are not doing your job properly. Pushback or don’t report from the WH. Leavitt lies and lies and lies throughout,” said one viewer.
The facts on the ground at the ICE detention facility Leavitt’s referring to are the polar opposite of what the Trump administration is claiming. Local officials say just a handful of nonviolent protesters have been demonstrating outside the facility during the day and approximately 100 peaceful protesters have gathered there at night.
Of course, they’re protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s ongoing raids on immigrant communities, not just in Portland, but across the country, counter to what Trump has proclaimed about rounding up violent illegal criminals.