Handcuffing A U.S. Senator Undermines Our Entire Democracy

This is the warning

24 hours to go until thousands of protests start taking place all over the United States

in Washington, D.C. A grotesque display and abuse of the military. Here is how Congressman Jake Auchincloss, a Marine veteran, a combat leader in Afghanistan

put it on the warning yesterday. I think it's twofold. The first is the sergeants and corporals. The sergeants and corporals are probably in their late 20s, early 30s. These are Marines who have been training for five to 10 years as infantry Marines to do close quarters urban combat

And that means that you train fires on a given building, you clear out that building with three to five Marines, and then you train your fires on the next building until you sequentially basically cordon off an entire section of the city

It's the kind of combat that you do against the People's Liberation Army or the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps

It is wholly unfit for service if you're trying to do crowd control in Los Angeles

Seventh Marines will be in Los Angeles. They will have live ammunition on them, but it will not be loaded into their weapons

There are thousands of federal troops on the streets. The great overreaction that we have seen, the abysmal response to the acts of violence

by too many Democratic leaders who were paralyzed by all things, including by Trump, including

by the rioters. Alex Padilla, a United States senator, was not one of them

He was in the federal building and United States Senator walked into a public room in a public building

And at a public event, the United States Senator asked a question or tried to of the Homeland Security Secretary

Now, what happened shocked the conscience of anybody and everybody who has any appreciation

for the United States government, for the Republic, for the checks and balances, for decorum

I'm Senator Alex Padilla. I have a question for the secretary, because the fact of the matter is a half a dozen killing

criminals that you're rotating on your, on your, hands off. How many of our ICE agents have been doxxed for doing their deed, how they have been targeted

What happened here was not okay. Now, knowing there's a bear in the woods is different than

seeing the bear in the woods. Even knowing that there's a bear in those woods, as in Yellowstone

doesn't guarantee that you'll see the bear. So when you see the bear, it's always a treat

And that's how we should think about the lie formation that's embedded so deeply in the heart of the MAGA conspiracy to tear down American democracy

And so the lies are constant, but rarely do we see them at that moment of their spawning, like the baby turtles hatching on a beach and making it to the ocean

The lie coming to life in real time. And thankfully, Nicole Wallace caught it in real time

And she called it out in real time. To be doing what they doing in full view of the cameras really does make the mind expand in new directions in terms of wondering what they doing to people who don have you know who aren one of a body of 100 and where there aren cameras rolling Let appreciate that we live in the most complex society in the history of the world and our democracy is federalist in nature It means that we appreciate that there vast

differences across the republic, that we have a pluralistic society, and that there are different

strokes for different folks. We have some states that are deeply conservative, like, for example

Idaho. And we have some states that are true blue or democratic, like California. Some of those

states, functionally, are one-party states, like Texas. I don't think it's particularly healthy

but that's what the voters have chosen, just like in California. So when we look at the grotesque

attack on U.S. Senator Padilla, we have to appreciate that even beyond that, there's something

bigger happening. Something bigger even than the assault by federal forces on Los Angeles

Even something bigger than the assault on California. And it's this statement by Christy

Noe, where she asserts, we're here to stay until we liberate the city from the socialists

We are not going away. We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country

What is she talking about? This is madness. Weapons grade insanity. Gavin Newsom may not be your cup of tea. He may not be mine on any given day

But here's the deal. He was elected by California voters twice to be the governor of the state

Overwhelmingly, in fact. Karen Bass, definitely not my cup of tea, but she won the election

She's the mayor of Los Angeles. That's who the voters of Los Angeles picked. And that is none of

the business of the Secretary of Homeland Security who should have an appreciation at a basic level

for how the American society is shaped and how its government operates, given that she was a

member of Congress and the governor of South Dakota. Now, Kristi Noem, outside of a few

jurisdictions in California, couldn't get elected dog catcher. And the fact that she was elected in

South Dakota is proof positive Gavin Newsom wouldn't do well in that jurisdiction. That's

the way it works. So when you look at this madness and you look at the statement, you have to multiply

the insanity with the effect of the power displayed with the authority at hand. So Christy

Noem has, with a small cabal, actualized her sick, twisted vision into reality. And so one of the most

storied combat units in the history of the United States military. The 7th Marines, who fought at

Guadalc in the Chosan Reservoir in Afghanistan and Iraq, are fully kitted up on the streets of

Los Angeles with the power to detain American citizens in support of a law enforcement function

and it's unacceptable. The use of the military and the threat to use the military and the debasement

of the military, with Donald Trump's abuse of it this weekend with this unholy parade

and the cheering of enlisted soldiers used as props 82nd airborne paratroopers whipped into a frenzy against millions of people in the country by their commander was a dangerous moment This moment requires some perspective and some

deep reasoning and logic. What Kristi Noem is suggesting is that with his 49.5% plurality victory

that Donald Trump has a mandate to undo every other election in the country

The position on the table is you will either love Trump or we will liberate you so that you may love Trump

No thanks. What we're seeing must be opposed. And what we are seeing is a growing, growling officiousness

a spreading arrogance. You see it in the thuggery of these special agents. Who do they think they are? Laying hands

upon a United States senator in a federal building asking a question of a cabinet secretary. Who do

they think they are? Is directly related to who does she think she is. Her behavior is outrageous

Her misconduct is obvious. And why is it that the presence of Corey Lewandowski is not reported on by the New York Times, by the Washington Post

But there he is lurking in the background. And according to some media reports, he is the married boyfriend of the Homeland Security Secretary

He is the disgraced former campaign manager of Donald Trump, whose last interaction with MAGA led to his boot after he assaulted the wife of a MAGA donor, which is interesting

Because when you think about it, Kristi Noem's goons treated a United States Senator, Alex Padilla, precisely like Corey Lewandowski has manhandled reporters in the past

and how he manhandled the life of the big MAGA donor that resulted in his temporary exile

until he was able to set up shop as secret Gestapo advisor to Kristi Noem

who he serves under apparently in a number of different positions. This is madness. It is insanity

And it requires consistent, constant confrontation and an absolute fierce determination not to yield to it, not to bow to it, not to submit to the idea of the madness that Trump somehow needs to send in the Marines to liberate Los Angeles

It's a lie. Spectacular. Hitlerian. Audacious. Daring. Sick. And Trump and no manipulate the

conflict-driven media that craves the ratings, that demands the conflict, like heroin addicts

like junkies who want more and more and more and more. The American people eat it up. The rage

the division, the hatred. And over 10 long years, what we've seen that even in 2025, even in this

modern era, yes, it's possible to whip the mob into a frenzy and send it marching. And that's

what we're witnessing. And so 24 hours from now, two things will make contact with one another

The voice of the American people and the delusions of a man who wishes to be tyrant and has the power to pretend that the American people are his enemies and he is their liberator And the force at his disposal to respond to those enemies until they liberated until they love him

And so a terrible season has bloomed in the United States. Something that was thought impossible, we stand at the edge of

How we got here could go on for days, but here we are, and we can go no further

What is happening must be confronted, and it must be stopped. And one of the things that I'd like to ask you to do is to check out the Save America movement

to look at the website, and join up so we can stand together and we can fight back against this

Because we have to. Because we're all going to be judged. There's going to be a question about how we measured up in a moment when every idea and ideal of the country is being tested, put into contestation on the edge of the 250th anniversary of the birth of the greatest force for the upward progress of mankind in all of human history

the United States, a nation of immigrants made up of all the people of the world, where even today

every single language known to man in this land is commonly spoken. This country built on an idea

about dignity, about freedom, the story of this country, which is the march towards the achievement

of that freedom for all people, that is a glorious story and a noble one because together we are free

more people, liberated more people, cured more people, clothed more people, fed more people

explored more places, liberated, invented more things, imagined more inventions into creation

than all of the other peoples of the world put together since the beginning of time. We live in

a magical country under assault from a puerile leadership. Fascists who have revealed themselves

and bared their teeth. And we must say no more. There are no kings in America. So tomorrow, march

with your chins up and your hearts clear, certain in the knowledge that you stand on the right side

of history against something terrible in defense of something noble. March as an American and raise

the American flag high. Do not let Donald Trump's bluster be confused for anything other than malice

and venom. He is a national disease, a sickness. And what will come after this terrible era is

recovery and renewal. But first, the test. And the test for all of us, a nation of 352 million

free men and women is simple. Are we going to submit to Trump and a gang of 200 people

who hold temporary positions of political power with limitations and say that you are kings

and we are your serfs? You may take as you please and we will give as you demand. Because what I say

to that, and I hope you will join me in agreeing, is never. I'm Steve Schmidt. This is The Warning

I invite you to join this community where I promise to be honest, blunt, and direct about what is happening in this country

America is in crisis. Follow and subscribe to this channel and on Substack

Thank you