White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday lashed out at a reporter who asked about President Donald Trump’s vow to meet military parade protests with “heavy force.”
“If there were peaceful protests on Saturday for the military parade, President Trump would allow that?” a reporter asked Leavitt during the White House press briefing.
“Of course the president supports peaceful protest,” Leavitt responded. “What a stupid question.”
Trump on Tuesday said protesters at his military parade in Washington, D.C. on Saturday — on the same day as his 79th birthday — “will be met with very heavy force.” The parade, which will feature tanks rolling down the streets of D.C. to mark the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary, is being criticized as a display reminiscent of what autocrats put on in their countries, such as in Russia and in North Korea.
Trump is expected to speak at the event, and Democrats plan to respond with, in their estimate, more than 1,500 “No Kings Day” protests across the U.S. on Saturday.
Trump on Tuesday said he did not know about protest plans, but said “these are people that hate our country.”
“For those people who want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force,” Trump said, a threat that critics say is a warning that protesters could be violently cracked down like in the Los Angeles ICE protests.
