Ahead of President Donald Trump's US military parade, a press conference was held to address his views on protests, and things got heated.
To celebrate the Army's 250th anniversary, a huge military parade is expected to be held today in Washington, DC, and is set to include thousands of soldiers marching the streets, tanks, warplanes, army parachutists, and more. Today is also Trump's 79th birthday.
"Critics have compared the expensive parade (which reportedly costs a whopping $40 million) to the ones held in Russia and North Korea. To counteract the massive demonstration, his policies, and the recent ICE raids/deportations, protests, known as the No Kings Protests, continue to take place around the country, with some even scheduled to happen today.
On Tuesday, Trump spoke out on the countrywide demonstrations and warned that anyone protesting during the anniversary parade will be met with "very heavy force."
So, when White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt held a daily briefing the following day, it was expected that reporters would have some follow-up questions about his remarks on protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles, which escalated after Trump authorized military forces to protect federal property against the wishes of city and state officials.
One interaction in particular has generated a lot of attention online, ultimately going viral for the "aggressive" response Karoline gave NOTUS White House correspondent Jasmine Wright.
"The president warned that any protests on Saturday would be met with force," Jasmine began. "Can you clarify what kind of protest President Trump does support or find acceptable?"
"The president absolutely supports peaceful protests," Karoline responded. "He supports the First Amendment. He supports the rights of Americans to make their voices heard. He does not support violence of any kind."
"He does not support assaulting law enforcement officers, who are simply trying to do their job. It's very clear for the president what he supports and what he does not. Unfortunately, for Democrats, that line has not been made clear, and they've allowed this unrest and this violence to continue, and the president has had to step in."
To get some clarification from Karoline, Jasmine asked, "So, if there were peaceful protests on Saturday for the military parade, President Trump would allow that?"
To which Karoline responded, "Of course, the president supports peaceful protest. What a stupid question."
Jasmine's facial expression said it all, because how rude! The comment was so uncalled for. Not only did Karoline not answer the question, but she threw all professionalism out the window while conversing with Jasmine.
Many people online were disgusted by it all:
"The way this administration is normalizing being disrespectful and just outright rude is crazy," one reply said. While another claimed, "That was definitely racially motivated, not surprised."
Some pointed out how the press secretary's answer contradicted Trump's actions: "He literally pardoned people that attacked law enforcement, so yes, he actually does support violence. In fact, he incites it," said a commenter, and another replied, "this totally contradicts what the president said yesterday lol." As another reminded her of the US Capitol attacks on Jan. 6: "and let’s not forget when he PARDONED MAGA SUPPORTERS WHO ASSAULTED OFFICERS AT THE CAPITOL."
The responses continued to highlight her behavior:
"Geez, she is so rude."
"Why is it ok for her to respond in this manner?"
"lying through her teeth, as she's wearing a cross around her neck."
"The gaslighting is unreal."
"Why are all the answers so aggressive?"
The parade is set to take place later today at 6:30 p.m. ET in DC, so only time will tell what will happen with today's protests.
