Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) again pinned the blame of violence during protests in Los Angeles on the Trump administration, saying there needs to be "accountability for the administration that has decided to intentionally create this chaos."
Speaking to Fox News Digital, the lawmaker was asked if she had a message for "those resorting to violence" in the city while protesting against the administration's immigration enforcement policies.
"The Trump administration owns this. Donald Trump and Stephen Miller know that when you violently raid elementary schools, home depot and start ripping kids out of people's arms it's going to create social chaos. Donald trump is knowingly provoking chaos. At the end of the day he has to answer for everything that has been happening," AOC said.
The lawmaker went on to say that "somehow it's the people who aren't in charge who have to answer for this, doesn't make any sense." It is the same message she conveyed a day prior, when she criticized her own party's response to the events unfolding in Los Angeles, claiming it does not need to "answer for every teen who throws a rock."
In a post on social media platform Bluesky on Tuesday, AOC said focusing on condemning violence rather than the Trump administration's actions is "100% carrying water for the opposition."
"It is 100% carrying water for the opposition to participate in this collective delusion that Dems for some reason need to answer for every teen who throws a rock rather than hold the Trump admin accountable for intentionally creating chaos and breaking the law to stoke violence. They are in charge," she claimed.
Other Democrats seek to walk a fine line between supporting protests against Trump's immigration enforcement tactics and condemning violence as Republicans put it at the center of the conversation.
On the other side of the Democratic spectrum stands Sen. John Fetterman, who on Monday also criticized the party, but for not condemning violence strongly enough. In a social media post of his own, he said the party loses the "moral high ground" by failing to condemn violence.
"I unapologetically stand for free speech, peaceful demonstrations, and immigration—but this is not that. This is anarchy and true chaos," Fetterman said in a publication on X. "My party loses the moral high ground when we refuse to condemn setting cars on fire, destroying buildings, and assaulting law enforcement," he added.
Other Democratic officials have sought to convey nuance to their takes on the events unfolding. Sen. Chris Murphy said the party can "do two things at a time." "We can condemn protests that get out of control, and we can acknowledge that Donald Trump has no interest in standing up to violent protesters," Murphy said, noting that the president also pardoned "every single violent protester that tried to attack our Capitol and destroy our democracy."
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