Trump calls Schaaf a ‘disgrace’
Response: ‘I’m proud to live in a country where everyone can criticize elected officials’
For the second day in a row, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf found herself in a war of words with a member of the Trump Administration — this time with the president himself.
In his first direct comments about Schaaf since she warned of impending ICE raids last month, President Donald Trump on Thursday called her a “disgrace.”
“What the mayor of Oakland did the other day was a disgrace,” Trump said during a White House meeting. “They had close to 1,000 people ready to be gotten, ready to be taken off the streets … they say 85 percent of them are criminals and had criminal records. And the mayor of Oakland went out and warned them, scattered, so instead of taking in a thousand they took in a fraction of that.”
A day earlier, Attorney General Jeff Sessions lambasted the Oakland mayor for that same warning: “So here’s my message for Mayor Schaaf: How dare you. How dare you needlessly endanger the lives of our law enforcement officers to promote a radical open borders agenda.”
Schaaf replied: “My response to the attorney general’s statements … How dare you vilify members of our community.”
When Schaaf was asked about Trump’s comments about her Thursday afternoon in San Francisco for the International Women’s Day, her response was more diplomatic
“I’m proud to live in a country
where everyone can criticize elected officials,” Schaaf said with a smile.
Trump doubled down on ICE Director Thomas Homan’s earlier criticism that Schaaf’s warning of imminent ICE activity tipped off criminals, leading tomore than 800 avoiding arrest. In the end, a four- day sweep led to more than 200 arrests in Northern California.
“They were all set, this was long in the planning and she said get out of here and she’s telling that to criminals,” Trump said. “And it’s certainly something we are looking at with respect to her individually. What she did is incredible and very dangerous fromthe standpoint of ICE and border patrol. Very dangerous. She really made law enforcement muchmore dangerous than it had to be. So we are looking at that situation very-carefully.”
Schaaf’s office had already been bombarded with angry calls about her warning about the ICE raid even before the verbal attacks from Sessions and Trump. But she said others have rallied to her defense.
“I’m so appreciative of the Oakland community. I have obviously gotten much criticism, but much of it from outside of this community and some of the feelings of being supportive and being heard, of being stood up for, those have been really wonderful for me to hear,” the mayor said.
“Throughout this journey with this new administration we are navigating the complicated power relationship between local, state and federal governments,” she continued. “That’s part of the beauty of our Constitution. That’s part of the beauty of our democratic form of government. Mine is one of the many voices in that debate and I feel confi- dent that the court system, which now has this case, is going to help us see some clarity.”
Schaaf finished her news briefing by wishing Trump a happy International Women’s Day.
At the White House, Trump also spoke about sanctuary cities, like Oak- land.
“Sanctuary cities, we’re working very hard, the justice department has done a fantastic job,” Trump said. “I do think we should have legislation where we put an extra line in themoney that we give them. You want the money, you can’t have the sanctuary cities that way we avoid the court battles all the time, which we probably will win but who needs it.
“They want the money they should give up on the sanctuary cities. It harbors horrible criminals.”