Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington defended her past remarks about Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in an interview with ABC on Monday. She had previously accused them of "kidnapping" people off the streets, and was responding to accusations from the White House that her rhetoric was fueling political violence.
"I have no rhetoric that I regret. Nothing that I have said is rhetoric that incites violence. All of it is about what is actually happening," she said.
"Democrats have spent years vilifying ICE as ‘fascists,’ ‘the Gestapo,’ and ‘slave patrols,’ inciting a 1,000% surge in assaults on agents and a wave of Radical Left terror. Their words aren’t just reckless — they’re a battle cry for violence," the White House had said on Friday.
"Rep. Pramila Jayapal called ICE agents ‘deranged,’ accused them of ‘kidnapping,’ and said ‘resistance’ to ICE is ‘inspiring,’" the statement continued.
Rep. Jayapal has made several inflammatory remarks about ICE, calling their operations and enforcement actions "deranged," "cruel," and "outrageous."
When asked again about her response to the White House, she discussed the death threats she has received for her rhetoric about ICE, and cited a lack of concern on the administration's part regarding those threats.
"Well, look, my response is, I just had a state representative, a Republican Arizona state representative, call for me to be hanged. He called for my execution. If the White House was actually going to go after people who are inciting political violence, they should go after people like that," she said.
Arizona GOP state Rep. John Gillette replied to a video where Rep. Jayapal called on her party to be “strike ready” and “street ready.” He wrote on X, "Until people like this, that advocate for the overthrow of the American government are tried convicted and hanged. it will continue."
The statement from the White House came shortly after there was an attack on an ICE detention facility in Dallas, Texas, where three detainees were shot and killed. The shooter was there explicitly to go after ICE agents, who, since the beginning of the year, have faced a 1000 percent increase in assaults.
Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats try desperately to stop it.
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