National Guard Ambush Sparks National Reckoning Over Political Rhetoric, Says Rep. Comer

The ambush shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., should spark a national reckoning over political rhetoric, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., told Newsmax Wednesday. Comer referenced a recent video in which six Democrat lawmakers urged military personnel to resist “illegal orders” from President Donald Trump. Comer, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, told Newsmax’s “Finnerty” that the attack on the West Virginia National Guard members, who remain in critical condition, cannot be separated from what he called an escalating pattern of “dangerous” language from the left. “This is a pattern of behavior by Democrat members in Congress,” he said. “I would vote to censure every Democrat that has said rhetoric that I think would possibly lead to what we saw today with our National Guard.” The video he referenced, circulated widely last week, showed six Democrats warning service members not to follow unspecified “illegal orders” they claimed could come from Trump. Republicans condemned the message as inflammatory and baseless. Comer said Democrats have been “demonizing” uniformed personnel as Trump has turned to the National Guard to address violent crime in major cities. Comer blamed the rhetoric in part for creating a hostile climate toward the Guard and law enforcement. “The role of the federal government should be to protect the people,” he said. “Washington, D.C., is a dangerous city,” he added, pointing to chronic staffing shortages in the Metropolitan Police Department following the City Council’s decision to cut police funding and adopt policies that discouraged recruitment and retention. Comer credited Trump’s deployment of the Guard — now a visible presence in the capital — with reducing crime. “Crime has decreased in Washington, D.C.” he said, arguing that Democrat-run cities “needed” federal intervention because they failed to maintain basic public safety. He also linked Wednesday’s shooting to what he described as national-level failures under former President Joe Biden, particularly the government’s vetting of Afghan nationals following the chaotic 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The suspect in Wednesday’s attack reportedly is a 29-year-old Afghan national who entered the country in 2021. DHS identified him as Rahmanullah Lakamal, a criminal alien from Afghanistan who entered the United States on Sept. 8, 2021, under the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome parole program. “We’ve got all these terrorists and criminals that have come into our country illegally, and they’re a problem,” Comer said. Calling the attack “a sad day in America,” Comer said Congress must hold those who encourage hostility toward U.S. troops accountable. “The book needs to be thrown at them,” he said.