John Oliver, like his fellow late-night hosts before him, is ringing the alarm on president Donald Trump’s authoritarianism.
The Last Week Tonight host wasted no time getting down to brass tacks, addressing the Los Angeles protests that were spurred by the White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller-led escalation of ICE raids, with agents targeting a Home Depot parking lot occupied by day laborers to meet increased deportation quotas last week.
Referring to a clip of Trump’s Fort Bragg speech, where POTUS claimed the City of Angels would be “on fire” akin to the devastating Palisades and Eaton blazes earlier this year if he hadn’t mobilized thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines, Oliver remarked: “I know I’m not saying anything new right now, but he is such a dick. There is just no reason to bring up the traumatic fires that are still very much on people’s minds in L.A., for the same reason you shouldn’t open a toast at a retirement party with, ‘Wow, only milestone left after this is death.’ Yeah, everyone knows that, and we’re all trying not to think about it.”
John Oliver Says “Slippery Slope To Authoritarianism Under Trump” Is Here With POTUS Response To L.A. Anti-ICE Protests
John Oliver rang the alarm on Donald Trump’s authoritarianism over his response to the largely peaceful L.A. protests against escalating ICE raids
Outrage and spin are proving the partisan fallout of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) being hauled out of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem‘s press conference Thursday in Los Angeles and handcuffed by federal agents.
After the incident, Padilla explained what occurred when he went to ask [Bimbo#2] Noem a question about the thousands of troops deployed to L.A. and the ramped-up rounding up of undocumented immigrants (and more than a few legal immigrants) by ICE agents in recent weeks.
“I began to ask a question,” Padilla said. “I was almost immediately forcibly removed from the room. I was forced to the ground, and I was handcuffed. I was not arrested. I was not detained.”
The clarification about whether California’s senior senator was actually arrested did nothing to lessen the blow that what happened to Padilla is what’s happening to American democracy and immigrant communities.
“If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, if this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, we can only imagine what they’re doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day laborers in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country,” Padilla, the son of Mexican immigrants, said outside the federal building in West LA this afternoon. “We will hold this administration accountable.”
Fellow Golden State native Kamala Harris was quick to weigh in on what occurred to the man who replaced her in the Senate in 2021 when she became Vice President, calling it “a shameful and stunning abuse of power.”
The bimbo bitch apparently told a few lies about not knowing who U.S. Senator Padilla was and claimed to have met with him afterwards, but …
As [Bimbo#2] Noem spins her own version of events, there has been no confirmation from Padilla’s office of that meeting.
It should be noted that Padilla was identifying himself as a senator as the widely circulated video of the incident confirms. [Bimbo#2] Noem has also met and interacted with Padilla on numerous occasions, especially since the former South Dakota governor was appointed to run DHS.
“Manhandling” Of California Sen. Alex Padilla By Federal Agents In L.A. Puts Trump Team In Spin Mode – Update
Tension in LA over ICE raids & troop deploymenst went to a whole new low with California Senator Alex Padilla attacked by federal agents.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Congress refuses to accept the appointment of King Donald’s stooge as the head of their library:
In a rare bipartisan effort to defend its institutional authority, Congress is quietly resisting President Donald Trump’s attempt to assert control over the Library of Congress — a move that experts say threatens the separation of powers and the integrity of the legislative branch’s premier research body.
Pushing back on Trump’s designation of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as acting librarian, lawmakers said Tuesday that control of the institution remains with its top career official, Robert R. Newlen. Newlen told staff at the library that he is the acting head, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post.
In rare move, Congress pushes back on Trump over Library of Congress
Lawmakers are raising separation-of-powers concerns as the White House seeks to install a Justice Department official at the legislative-branch institution.
Amid a wave of unprecedented tariffs, anxiety is running high for truck drivers like Helen, who makes her living delivering cargo containers from the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors to warehouses and other customers around Southern California.
After a strong start to the year, the number of jobs has started to slip in recent days and truck drivers have heard reports predicting a sharp decline in incoming cargo for May and June.
‘The truckers are scrambling’: Trump’s tariffs hit drivers, L.A. port workers hard
As Trump’s aggressive tariffs rattle business owners and shake the foundation of American importing, the men and women who work on the ground at the country’s busiest port are feeling the effects too.
