CNN became flustered after President Donald Trump referred to the anti-ICE protestors “insurrectionists,” after they spent three nights terrorizing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Los Angeles as they conducted operations against criminal illegal immigrants.
The anti-ICE demonstrators spent all weekend throwing rocks at federal agents, hurling Molotov cocktails, setting cars on fire, and yelling terrorist chants. All of the Los Angeles area was on fire as civil unrest continued to rage through the city. In response, President Trump called on 2,000 National Guard troops to help deter the chaos.
“The people that are causing the problem are professional agitators. They're insurrectionist. They’re bad people,” Trump said on Monday.
Trump’s comments rattled CNN host Dana Bash and Stephen Collinson, who said it was a “very serious word that is being thrown around.”
“That word he used, they're insurrectionists. I can't imagine that that was an accident,” Bash said.
NEW: CNN panel is clearly flustered after President Trump calls the LA rioters a bunch of “insurrectionists.”
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 9, 2025
Trump: The people that are causing the problem are professional agitators. They're insurrectionist. They’re bad people.
Dana Bash: That word he used, they're… pic.twitter.com/JyNy9GMfU1
However, let us remember that CNN, along with The New York Times and MSNBC, threw around the word “insurrectionists” like there was no tomorrow after people stormed the Capitol during the Jan. 6 protests. They pushed a narrative that exaggerated the events as a violent attempt to overthrow the government. Yet, the rioters who are causing chaos in LA are, according to left-wing pundits, nothing more than “peacefully” protesting.
Republicans argue the term “insurrectionists” is politically charged and has been weaponized to discredit Trump.