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Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna’s appearance on Hannity this week was a study in political spin — he told Sean Hannity there’s “heated rhetoric” on both sides even as his party increasingly targets ICE and law enforcement for political points. The clip showed Khanna trying to have it both ways: criticize rhetoric but excuse the activists and elected officials who cheer on attacks against federal agents.
That kind of moral equivalence is dangerous and dishonest. Conservatives know what “heated rhetoric” looks like on the left: deliberate vilification of law enforcement and calls to defund or obstruct federal officers, rhetoric that then translates into harassment and operational paralysis for ICE agents doing a grim, necessary job. Khanna’s attempt to sanitize that message on national television was faintly comic and ultimately revealing.
Let’s be crystal clear about the remedy his party refused: the Laken Riley Act, passed by Congress to require detention of unlawful entrants accused of theft-related crimes and to give states tools when the federal government fails to enforce immigration law. That bill moved through the House and Senate and was signed into law after bipartisan support in several quarters, a direct response to concerns about public safety. Americans want borders and communities secured; that’s not partisan grandstanding, it’s basic government duty.
And yet Khanna voted against it — a vote that will rightly be remembered by voters who put public safety first. On Hannity he tried to lecture about tone while voting against commonsense measures that would have helped prevent tragedies and held the federal government accountable. There’s no plausible defense for preaching civility while blocking laws that protect Americans and back the officers who enforce our borders.
If Democrats want to play the “both sides” card, they should not be surprised when Americans call them out for hypocrisy. The Laken Riley Act debate exposed a larger truth: too many in Khanna’s party would rather posture for activist bases and media applause than deliver real policy that secures neighborhoods and supports prosecutors and ICE agents doing hard work under impossible conditions. Voters deserve representatives who back law and order, not rhetorical gymnastics.
Washington’s elite — on both cable and Capitol Hill — should stop pretending that virtue-signaling substitutes for governing. Conservatives will keep reminding the country that enforcing immigration law is not mean-spirited, it is patriotic; defending victims and supporting police and ICE is the practical expression of that patriotism. Americans will remember who stood with security and who stood with slogans when the next election rolls around.
