Gov. Ron DeSantis has quibbled about whether the Jan. 6 2021 Capitol Riots constituted an insurrection, but he has no such qualms about making a similar declaration about Black Lives Matter protests and how he would have handled them.
"You as the President, you absolutely have the right to prevent this type of rioting. You know, Bush 41 sent people to L.A. in 92. So Trump could have done it. He refused to do it. I think he was worried that the press would attack him. He was concerned about, you know, re-election and everything," DeSantis said in Ankeny, Iowa on Sunday, suggesting that Trump should have invoked the Insurrection Act and mobilized federal law enforcement and military backups in 2020.
Trump reportedly considered invoking the Insurrection Act in 2020 to quell protests in the wake of George Floyd's death, but stopped short.
President George Herbert Walker Bush authorized 1,000 Federal riot-trained law enforcement officials to be deployed into Los Angeles, in the wake of protests and violence after that city's police officers who had beaten up Rodney King were acquitted in a jury trial.
"In a civilized society, there can be no excuse, no excuse for the murder, arson, theft, and vandalism that have terrorized the law-abiding citizens of Los Angeles," Bush said in 1992.
DeSantis' floating the Insurrection Act as redress for BLM protests is the latest example of how the Governor evaluates right wing and left wing political actions differently.
In February, DeSantis likened protests at the Florida Capitol to the Jan. 6 riot.
"It's interesting that if they're doing that from the Left, then the media says that's 'democracy in action.' They don't say it's an insurrection if you take over a Capitol because of that, but I think that's what it's getting to."
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