Ron DeSantis Reveals Newsom Turned Down Florida’s Help, And The Reason Given Is A Real Head-Scratcher

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis revealed on Fox News Tuesday that his state offered assistance to Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom to aid in the ongoing unrest in Los Angeles, only to have that offer turned down.

Nearly 1,000 rioters wreaked havoc in the city Friday night, surrounding a federal building, attacking Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, slashing tires, and destroying government property, according to the Department of Homeland Security. During an appearance on “Jesse Watters Primetime, ” DeSantis detailed his state’s offer of support, noting that such assistance is common during crises, like hurricanes.

“We offer help, and we get help when we have hurricanes and things like that. Their response, though, was that somehow us offering help was gonna quote, ‘inflame the situation,’” DeSantis told Jesse Watters.

DeSantis defended his state’s offer and discussed what he said was the lack of support for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).

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“What’s inflaming the situation are the illegals that are burning cars and looting stores and are out there blocking traffic. That’s what’s inflaming the situation. The way to put the fire out is to make sure you have law and order,” DeSantis added. “And I can tell you this, you look at those LAPD officers, they’re not getting the support that they need. That’s part of the reason we’ve had a lot of people from there come to Florida.”

President Donald Trump deployed at least 2,000 National Guard troops on Saturday to restore order amid the violent riots in Los Angeles. Rather than acknowledge the federal assistance, Newsom filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday.

DeSantis also did not hold back in his criticism of California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, who claimed to have witnessed no violence during the riots. (RELATED: Judge Rejects California’s Attempt To Halt Trump’s Military Deployment)

“You remember during the BLM riots, you’d have the CNN reporter staged in front of a building that would be on fire and would say ‘Oh, this is mostly peaceful protests’? And so this is what they do. It’s gaslighting 101,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis said he’s convinced that, deep down, Democrats know this “gaslighting” isn’t helping their cause politically.

“As you pointed out, nobody’s rallying to the side of the people that are rioting,” DeSantis said. “People want order, and they want the laws enforced. And I would say President Trump’s immigration policies, he’s probably the most popular president on immigration in my lifetime.”

Waters said on Tuesday that no violence occurred during the ongoing riots in Los Angeles, despite widespread fires and chaos in the streets. As rioters looted businesses, burned cars, and hurled Molotov cocktails and fireworks, Waters, during a House Democratic press conference, insisted the riots were peaceful.

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