Rep. Ruben Gallego Calls Out ‘A**hole’ Lockdown Protesters Trying to ‘Intimidate Government Employees’ with Guns

Arizona Democratic Congressman and Iraq War veteran Ruben Gallego told SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah that protesters like the armed militiamen in Michigan are “assholes” who only respect the police when it suits their political views.

On Monday’s edition of SiriusXM’s The Dean Obeidallah Show, Obeidallah talked with Gallego about protests in states like Michigan, where armed demonstrators flooded the state capitol demanding an end to measures designed to slow the coronavirus pandemic.

“What’s your reaction to these armed protesters,” Obeidallah asked, describing scenes of police being screamed at and elected officials being “menaced.”

“Do you trace that back to Trump’s tweets to ‘Liberate Michigan,’ ‘Liberate Minnesota’ and everything?” he asked Gallego, referencing social media posts by President Donald Trump that egged the protests on.

“I think it’s partly that, I think partly it’s just a general mistrust of government that they feel emboldened now to actually take part,” Gallego said.

But he went on to add “I just want to point out the hypocrisy of this group. These are the same assholes, basically, who are always talking about ‘Blue Lives Matter’ and respect authority. And they are the ones who are always bitching about Kaepernick kneeling for the national anthem. And then they show up and try to intimidate government employees, police officers with their weapons.”

“At the end of the day it’s ‘Blue Lives Matter’ only if it’s aligned with your political view,” Gallego said. “When it’s not, then I guess it’s OK for you to be an asshole to cops like these guys.”

Last week, Trump urged Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to “make a deal with” the armed demonstrators, but more recently. Fox News host Sean Hannity has come out against the group’s tactics.

Watch the clip above, via SiriusXM.