Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said Sunday that he believes deploying the Marine Corps in California “won’t be necessary” after President Trump deployed the National Guard.
“It won’t be necessary. Bring in the, you know, the National Guard, that’s what happened here in Wisconsin, and it worked. I’m quite sure it’ll work in California,” Johnson said after being pressed by CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” about Marines potentially coming to the Los Angeles area.
Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard members to the Los Angeles area on Saturday amid protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said previously that the action was due to “violent mobs” recently attacking “Federal Law Enforcement Agents carrying out basic deportation operations.”
“The National Guard, and Marines if need be, stand with ICE,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a post on the social platform X on Sunday morning.
Johnson also said there are no California leaders “that are willing to prevent violence and protect federal law enforcement.”
“This is all about protecting law enforcement as they go about their very difficult and very dangerous job,” he added.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday went after Trump over the deployment of the National Guard to the Los Angeles area, saying the president “thinks he has a right to do anything.”
“He does not believe in the Constitution; he does not believe in the rule of law,” Sanders told Bash on “State of the Union.”
“My understanding is that the governor of California, the mayor of the city of Los Angeles, did not request the National Guard, but he thinks he has a right to do anything he wants,” he added.
