Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lit up a far-left Democrat congresswoman on Tuesday with a brutal reminder after she tried to bash the Trump Administration’s handling of the Los Angeles riots.
As ABC News reported, Hegseth testified before the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee alongside General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and acting Pentagon Comptroller Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell to discuss the upcoming 2026 budget request from the administration.
But thanks to the Democrats, the hearing soon turned into an inquisition over Trump daring to try to safeguard California’s largest city and lay down the law against the violent insurrectionists tearing it apart.
Far-left Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) started up the Democratic attack machine by asking a question about the 2026 Pentagon budget to inject her thoughts regarding the ongoing riots in LA. She began with a personal touch, noting she and Hegseth were both from Minnesota, before attempting to dunk on Trump’s response to Los Angeles. But she ended up getting her facts wrong in the process.
“Mr. Secretary, we’re both from Minnesota,” McCollum began. “I was in the Twin Cities during the riots that followed the murder of George Floyd. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets for days; Governor Walz made the decision to call up the National Guard.”
“At no point did we need Marines to be deployed,” she continued. “Our state and local law enforcement, along with our National Guard, were more than enough to handle situations more volatile than what happened this weekend…We see loops on TV, but this looks nothing like the George Floyd protests or the Rodney King riots.”
However, Hegseth’s memory of what happened in 2020 was crystal clear. He reminded McCollum of how Tampon Tim really handled the riots.
“Congresswoman, thank you for your question,” Hegseth responded. “You are right. We are both originally from Minnesota. Which is why I recall 2020 quite well, when Governor Walz abandoned a police precinct and allowed it to be burned to the ground.”
“And also allowed five days of chaos to occur inside the streets of Minneapolis.”
WATCH:
HOLY SMOKES—@SecDef Pete Hegseth just dropped the HAMMER on on Democrat Betty McCollum!
MCCOLLUM: “We’re both from Minnesota. I was in the Twin Cities during the riots that followed the murder of George Floyd. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets for days…At… pic.twitter.com/sbuKUE8xgr
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 10, 2025
Hegseth went on to elaborate that the Trump Administration learned from Walz’s error and knew they could not take a chance on another liberal governor screwing up a national crisis again.
“Because of that, the National Guard was far too late to mobilize, and President Trump recognized a situation like that as improperly handled by a governor, like it was by Governor Walz…So, in Los Angeles, we believe that ICE has the right to safely conduct operations in any state or jurisdiction in the country, especially after 21 million illegals have crossed our border under the previous administration.”
A triggered McCollum then started yammering that he did not answer her question about the budget, but Hegseth reminded her she also asked about Los Angeles and shut her down again.
“We ought to be able to enforce immigration law in this country, unlike what Governor Walz did in 2020.”
BREAKING: SecDef Hegseth shuts down Rep. McCollum on LA troop deployment costs: “In 2020, Walz let a precinct burn. We deployed Guard & Marines to protect ICE operations.”
(FOLLOW FOR REALTIME LA RIOT UPDATES) pic.twitter.com/wWxIxAhEoa
— News Now (@NewsNow717) June 10, 2025
The post WATCH: Pete Hegseth Smacks Down Far-Left Democrat Congresswoman with a Brutal Reminder After She Tries to Dunk on President Trump’s Response to the LA Riots appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.