Dems 'should be held accountable' for violent rhetoric urging Americans to fight Trump admin in the streets: White House

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday said that Democrats "should be held accountable" for their rhetoric as they continue to complain and protest about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its cost-cutting measures across the federal government. 

"Are the officials here preparing to fight Democratic lawmakers in the streets?" Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked, to which Leavitt replied, "Absolutely not."

"Some elected Democrats are so steamed about DOGE," Doocy said, "Congresswoman LaMonica McIver says 'we are at war,' Ilhan Omar says we might actually see somebody get killed, and Chris Van Hollen says 'we have to fight this in the Congress, we have to fight this in the streets,'" Doocy continued. "So what now?"

Leavitt replied that if it were Republican leaders making such comments, "I think there would be a lot more outrage in this room today. It’s unacceptable the comments that have been made by these Democrat leaders, and frankly, they don’t even know what they’re talking about."

She noted that Trump was "elected with a mandate from the American people to make this government more efficient" and that he campaigned with Elon Musk across the country "vowing that Elon was going to head up the Department of Government Efficiency and the two of them, with a great team around them, were going to look at the receipts of this federal government and ensure it’s accountable to American taxpayers."

"That’s all that is happening here and for Democrat officials to incite violence and encourage Americans to take to the streets is incredibly alarming and they should be held accountable for that rhetoric."

The question came after Democrat lawmakers on Tuesday evening held a protest outside the Department of Treasury building in Washington, DC, in response to representatives from DOGE being granted access to the Treasury Department. Those DOGE workers are able to view, but not change, anything within the system.

Democrats have been beside themselves over cuts made to programs at USAID, such as trans comic books in Peru, a trans opera in Colombia, and cuts to other LGBTQ and DEI funding in foreign nations. Leavitt went on to close her press conference by noting that those same Democrats have not raised this kind of noise about funding for North Carolina hurricane victims or LA wildfire victims.