USA TODAY has been an invaluable resource for those following the mostly peaceful protests in Los Angeles. For example, after protesters set a fleet of self-driving Waymo cars on fire and danced on the hoods holding Mexican flags, USA TODAY ran a piece about how it was a bad idea to burn electric vehicles, because of the emissions from the batteries. If you're going to burn cars, make them plain old combustion engine cars.
USA TODAY has an opinion piece out today revealing that President Donald Trump lied about the rioting in Los Angeles as a distraction from what he was really doing.
Opinion: Trump lied about the LA protests so you wouldn't see what he's really doing | Opinion https://t.co/HmYT85F5br
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) June 18, 2025
Sara Pequeño writes:
President Donald Trump has been busy trying to distract you by bullying immigrants.
The president has been fighting with California Gov. Gavin Newsom over what to do about the unfolding protests in Los Angeles – protests that the president wanted you to believe were violent, unruly and tearing the country apart.
Then, on June 14, he tried to capture your attention via a military parade. All of this seemed to serve one primary purpose: to keep people distracted from the continuous failures of the Trump administration. Distract from what? A few things, actually.
By claiming a city is burning to the ground, the Republican Party tried to blind us from the upheaval of the new U.S. vaccine policy. You might have missed that Planned Parenthood has closed clinics across the country, impacting people seeking basic health care. You probably also saw a quick flash about Trump's polling dropping, again.
Actually, Trump's numbers have held pretty well, and people don't go to Planned Parenthood for "basic health care." Oh, she also mentioned the Army's 250th birthday parade got under her skin.
Recommended
We read the piece and that's pretty much the gist of it, with the exception of the "manhandling" of mild-mannered Latino Sen. Alex Padilla, who was near tears on the Senate floor Tuesday recounting his horrible ordeal.
At least we learned that at least 17 Planned Parenthood clinics have closed in the first five months of 2025.
We can SEE. pic.twitter.com/YCJu5Ez4gg
— Dory Beutel 🇺🇸✌🏼🇺🇸 (@DoryBeutel) June 18, 2025
Ahhh yes…
— Senoritajz 🇺🇸🌞🇺🇸 (@senoritajz) June 18, 2025
“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” George Orwell
Actually, WE COULD SEE WITH OUR OWN EYES what was Actually happening.
— Moved to Florida (@FreeinFL22) June 18, 2025
God, I have a real distain for the media.
Yeah he lied? pic.twitter.com/hvzUxetTKF
— BillyBob1972 🇺🇸 (@BillyRickiBob) June 18, 2025
... pic.twitter.com/jxsj7PSDE0
— Amy (@AmyinMich) June 18, 2025
— Amy (@AmyinMich) June 18, 2025
— Phil (@1Phil996) June 18, 2025
Don’t believe your own eyes…it was peaceful. The media would never lie to you. 🙄
— Pearl Bodine (@ChickenChoker8) June 18, 2025
You found a real winner here to write this piece. TDS is strong in this one! What garbage piece. @USATODAY was once a notable publication. Now it’s just trash.
— Border_Dawg (@Border_Dawg) June 18, 2025
What a crock of shit and YOU know it. No one reads your rag anymore or your online bullshit feeds.... and after this reply, neither will I.
— Mike (@StormPorter2009) June 18, 2025
😂😂😂😂😂 We all see what Trump is doing and we love it.
— Debbie (@Debbie72301806) June 18, 2025
We voted for this. Our only regret is that he's not implementing his agenda faster.
This article basically says everything Trump and his cabinet do is bad And that nothing bad happened in LA and Trump sent the guard to LA to distract everyone from all the other bad Trump things.
— Dr. Jack Meoff, PhD (@biggbytes) June 18, 2025
That pretty well sums it up.
"Don't let Trump's social media posts and government bullying distract you," Pequeño concludes. "The real consequences of electing him are just beginning."
Hell yeah they are.
***
Join the conversation as a VIP Member