Bernie Sanders warned of the US’s slide into authoritarianism following Donald Trump’s decision to deploy the national guard to Los Angeles over the city’s protests against federal immigration raids.
Speaking to CNN on Sunday, the leftwing Vermont senator said: “We have a president who is moving this country rapidly into authoritarianism … 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.”
Sanders, and many others, have long warned for the potential risk to American democracy that Trump represents in his second term. Since returning to the White House Trump has roiled American politics and civic life with numerous actions including attacking universities, slashing government spending and firing tens of thousands of employees and rolling back the rights of LGBTQ+ people.
Sanders added: “He is suing the media who criticizes him. He is going after law firms who have clients who were against him. He’s going after universities that teach courses that he doesn’t like. He’s threatening to impeach judges who rule against him. And he’s usurping the powers of the United States congress. This guy wants all of the power. He does not believe in the constitution. He does not believe in the rule of law.”
Pointing to the Republican-led House and Senate, Sanders went on to say that the future of the US “rests with a small number of Republicans in the House and Senate who know better, who do know what the constitution is about”.
“It’s high time they stood for our constitution and the rule of law,” Sanders said.
His latest interview comes after widespread backlash from California leaders towards Trump’s decision to deploy 2,000 California national guards to respond to the immigration protests. Trump’s decision came at the objection of California governor Gavin Newsom, who called it “purposefully inflammatory.”
“The federal government is taking over the California National Guard and deploying 2,000 soldiers in Los Angeles – not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle,” Newsom said, adding: “Don’t give them one.”
Over the weekend, Los Angeles has been rocked by widespread protests in response to the Trump administration’s draconian immigration raids against migrant communities.
Trump’s deployment of the national guard marks the first time a US president wielded such power since the 1992 riots in Los Angeles over the brutal beating of Rodney King, a Black motorist, by four white police officers who were acquitted.
