The unrest in Los Angeles over the weekend that Townhall has been covering has been made worse by the ineffectiveness of California Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass. Although an arrest for Newsom, something he actually dared Tom Homan to go about putting in motion, does not look to be on the table at this time, there's nevertheless been calls for action to do with these Democrats. On Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) called for the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee to subpoena Newsom and Bass.
Moreno began his remarks by referring to the subcommittee hearing of the day, "Match Ready: Oversight of the Federal Government’s Border Management and Personnel Readiness Efforts for the Decade of Sports," as being "extremely timely," especially in light of how "it looks like law and order's completely gone downhill in Los Angeles and throughout California."
He also called out both Newsom and Bass, especially as they've both blamed the violence on having to do with deportations, which the senator wasn't buying, offering that those reasons "obviously have nothing to do with why you you would go in and pillage a store or rob places."
The concerns over such chaos in a major U.S. city are not only relevant as it applies to quelling violence and unrest over protecting law enforcement and the rule of law, but also when it comes to the events that LA will be hosting. "Moreno’s calls to subpoena Governor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass come as Los Angeles is set to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics," a press release from the senator's office pointed out.
During his line of questioning, Moreno suggested we "make a decision now to say they're incapable of handling two, high-profile events like this, and aren't we better off as a nation just to make an acknowledgment of that and move it to some place that actually will have law and order, that will have the proper amount of protections for American citizens and the tens of millions of visitors that are going to come to those events."
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The senator framed the issue as "an upward battle of what is clearly an administration both locally and at the state level that is just unwilling to follow basic civil protections," a point against Newsom and Bass he continued to stress. He also emphasized how this is even without major events, such as the World Cup and Olympics taking place.
Not only does the level of incompetence from Newsom and Bass lead Moreno to suggest such events take place in another city, but Moreno also reminded how Democrats have gone after the Trump administration for trying to restore order. In addition to stressing how Newsom and Bass won't do "the bare minimum," despite the "enormous challenges" in "normal situations," Moreno emphasized that they are "completely incompetent leaders" and called them out for how they "feel that the [Trump] administration is doing too much to protect their citizens."
It was a point that Moreno repeated to really make clear. "I have to repeat that. You have the governor and the mayor saying that the president of the United States is doing too much to protect businesses and to protect their own civilians," he continued.
On that note, Newsom hasn't merely obsessively posted to X in ways that do not look good for him. But he and California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday also even sued the Trump administration for sending the National Guard. Newsom on Tuesday also filed an emergency motion.
"And Mr. Chairman," Moreno said towards the end of his time, addressing Subcommittee Chairman James Lankford (R-OK), "I think what we should do is ask those two people, the mayor of Los Angeles and the governor of California, to come in and explain how their behavior is going to be different in '26 and '28 to assure the American people that we are able to put on an event that is worthy of this country." He emphasized that he had "zero faith" in Newsom and Bass due to "the incompetence that both of those have already shown."
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