Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Governor Jerry Brown's Response to Donald Trump's Immigration Roundtable Just Summed Trump's Presidency Up in One Tweet

Brutal.

Governor Jerry Brown (D-CA) rebuked President Donald Trump after the president analogized illegal immigrants whom he claimed are part of gangs to animals during a meeting with California officials who oppose the state's position on sanctuary cities.

Brown did not hold back in his criticisms.


The president "is lying on immigration, lying about crime and lying about the laws of CA," Brown wrote on Twitter. "Flying in a dozen Republican politicians to flatter him and praise his reckless policies changes nothing. We, the citizens of the fifth largest economy in the world, are not impressed."

The president's comments mirrored some of his past––often incendiary––comments on immigrants.

“We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in, we’re stopping a lot of them. And we’re taking people out of the country, you wouldn’t believe how bad these people are. These aren’t people, these are animals," he said. “And we’re taking them out of the country at a level, at a rate, that’s never happened before.”

California's immigration laws, Trump added, are “the dumbest laws on immigration in the world.”

The president blamed Democrats for passing legislation which forces immigration agents to break up families.

"I know what you're going through right now with families is very tough. But those are the bad laws the Democrats gave us," Trump said, referencing a new Department of Homeland Security policy that would potentially result in familial separations at the border, with parents separated from their children as they await their criminal proceedings.

"We have to break up families," the president continued. "The Democrats gave us that law. It's a horrible thing, we have to break up families. That Democrats gave us that law and they don't want to do anything about it."

Trump also criticized Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s decision to inform residents of Oakland ahead of an impending ICE raid. The president said Schaaf's action amounted to "obstruction of justice" because many of those who were targeted fled before immigration agents could arrive:

They all fled, or most of them fled. The whole operation took a long time to put together. You talk about obstruction of justice — I would recommend that you look into obstruction of justice for the mayor of Oakland, California, Jeff [Sessions]. She advises thousand people ... ‘Get out of here, the law enforcement’s coming.’ And you worked on that long and hard and you got there and there were very few people there.

Perhaps the Department of Justice can look into that, with respect to the mayor, because it’s a big deal out there, and a lot of people are very angry about what happened.

Schaaf has defended her action, saying she did not break any laws.

“I was sharing information in a way that was legal and was not obstructing justice,” she said a few days after she issued her warning, “and it was an opportunity to ensure that people were aware of their rights.”

California officials who attended the meeting included House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, councilmember Pam Patterson, and seven of the state's mayors, along with two sheriffs and a district attorney. The president himself arrived with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and Deputy Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan.

All of these individuals oppose California legislation which bars law enforcement officers from using funds and personnel to investigate and detain people who they suspect may be in the country illegally. The legislation also forbids law enforcement from asking questions about immigration status. The state soon found itself in a heated legal battle with the Trump administration, which threatened to withhold funding from cities that did not crack down on immigration.

"Every day we're getting more and more reports from the police department about how they can't arrest these people," said San Jacinto Mayor Crystal Ruiz. "They can't arrest them, everything's a misdemeanor because it's not near [Governor Jerry Brown's] house."

Ahead of the California meeting, Trump, during a visit to Capitol Hill, demanded that Congress expedite legislation approving the construction of the wall along the Mexican border.

“We are calling on Congress to secure our borders, support our border agents, stop sanctuary cities and shut down policies that release violent criminals back into our communities,” Trump said at an event outside the Capitol honoring law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty. “We don’t want it any longer. We’ve had it. Enough is enough.”

Trump later brought his frustrations to a private lunch with GOP leaders.

"He wants the wall. He made that abundantly clear,” Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) said afterward. “He said, ‘I want the wall.’ I don’t think that’s news.”

“He said we have to secure the border," said Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI). "And the American people support us on that."

More from People/donald-trump

Donald Trump; Martin Luther King Jr.
Taylor Hill/FilmMagic/Getty Images; Jack Sheahan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Trump Ripped After Forcing National Parks To Drop Free Entry On MLK Day And Juneteenth For Infuriating Reason

President Donald Trump was criticized after the National Park Service announced it will be dropping Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth for next year's calendar of free-entry days and adding Trump's birthday, which happens to fall on Flag Day, on June 14.

Last month, the Department of the Interior unveiled changes to what it now calls its “resident-only patriotic fee-free days,” expanding the calendar to include new dates like the Fourth of July weekend and President Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday, while dropping others that had honored the department itself, including the Bureau of Land Management’s anniversary.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Juanita Broaddrick's tweet overlayed against a picture of the J. Crew sign
@atensnut/X; Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

MAGA Is Melting Down Over A Pink J. Crew Sweater For Men—And Our Eyes Can't Roll Hard Enough

MAGA fans are melting down over a $168 men's sweater from J. Crew with a fair-isle collar, claiming, in yet another example of the idiocy of the culture wars, that only liberals would actually wear it.

We know what you're thinking... Really?!

Keep ReadingShow less
Robert Garcia; Marjorie Taylor Greene
WWHL/Bravo; Daniel Heuer/AFP via Getty Images

Dem Rep. Has An Idea For A New Line Of Work For MTG After She Leaves Congress—And It Would Certainly Be Something

California Democratic Representative Robert Garcia was elected in November 2022 and even before being sworn in, he was locking horns with one-time MAGA darling and Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

For years, MTG was best known as the QAnon conspiracy theory-spewing, State of the Union heckling, crossfit hyping, Trump ride-or-dying, anti-LGBTQ+ racist MAGA minion from Georgia.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump Jr.
Fayez Nureldine/AFP via Getty Images

Don Jr. Sparks Outrage After Startup Company He Backed Scores Massive Contract With Pentagon

Donald Trump Jr. is facing criticism after The Financial Times reported that Vulcan Elements, a startup he backed, scored a $620 million government contract with the Department of Defense.

The company said the deal falls under a broader $1.4 billion collaboration with the federal government and ReElement Technologies aimed at scaling up U.S. magnet production and strengthening the domestic supply chain.

Keep ReadingShow less

People Describe The Deepest Internet 'Rabbit Hole' They've Ever Fallen Down

Who amongst us hasn't wasted HOURS of life surfing the web for things we couldn't help being intrigued by?

Going on the internet for one quick look at a sale, then staying up until sunrise trying to uncover a 50-year-old unsolved murder mystery is totally normal.

Keep ReadingShow less