Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton appeared on a Thursday’s broadcast of “Fox and Friends” and called for the use of force to combat violence from antifa mobs that have been operating in some cities.
Host Steve Doocy said that the groups seen committing acts of violence in Seattle, Portland and Denver following President Joe Biden’s inauguration didn’t seem to like Biden or law enforcement, and want “aggressive” changes to immigration and climate change policy.
“Yeah, Steve, just a few months ago I remember the media and Democrats blaming all this antifa violence on Donald Trump. Yet here we have Joe Biden in the White House and antifa is still rampaging in the street of Portland and Seattle and Denver,” Cotton responded.
“This proves a point I made months ago, proves the point I made two weeks ago, is that when you have a mob using violence for political ends, it doesn’t matter what slogan or flag they are waving, they have to be met with force. And force has to be used to deter that violence, and if it breaks out, to stop that violence. That has to be the standard that we apply whether no matter what slogan a mob is chanting. ”
Cotton referred to his condemnation of the mob, made up of supporters of former President Donald Trump, that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. demanding to stop the certification of the Electoral College vote. (RELATED: ‘I’ll Stand Up For Them’: Sen. Tom Cotton Says All Trump Supporters Shouldn’t ‘Have Their Views Censored’ Because Of Capitol Riot)
Doocy continued saying that demonstrations start out the “same way every day” and are protected by the First Amendment, but ultimately it “devolves.” He pointed out that the protestors on Jan. 20 were chanting that they wanted revenge instead of justice.
“Again, these mobs that we see on the streets of Seattle and Portland and Denver that represent antifa, which I guess maybe is not just an idea as some Democrats have said. Ultimately what they want is to overthrow America,” Cotton responded. “They hate America. They are not rampaging the streets because Joe Biden is President. They weren’t doing it last summer because Donald Trump was President. They are doing it because they hate America.”