Kristi Noem’s Latest Trump Boast Has Critics Howling

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stunned critics on Sunday with a wild, dramatic claim about Donald Trump.

During a discussion on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” about the president’s possible deployment of the National Guard to Chicago, Noem said Los Angeles “wouldn’t be standing” if Trump hadn’t mobilized troops there in June to counter protests against his anti-immigration crackdown.

“That city would have burned down if left to the devices of the mayor and the governor of that state,” Noem told host Ed O’Keefe.

“And so the citizens who live there, the small-business owners in downtown LA, they’re thankful that President Trump came in with federal law enforcement officers and helped support keeping those streets open, keep their homes and businesses from burning down, and made sure that law and order was restored,” she added.

When O’Keefe pressed for clarification, Noem doubled down and called the deployment ― which was slammed as an unnecessary overreaction and political overreach by critics ― an “incredibly important” move by Trump.

“We are grateful that President Trump was willing to send resources and people in, in order to enforce the law,” she said.

The office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) — who has been on a Trump-trolling roll in recent weeks — fired back on social media with a single line:

“Hahahahahhahahahahahahahaha.”

Others online quickly chimed in with similar disbelief.