Who Governs America?

by Newt Gingrich

Riots in defense of illegal immigration in Los Angeles are finally being quelled by President Donald J. Trump’s decision to send in federal forces. But there are signs that Chicago, Atlanta, and other major cities may start hosting similar anti-government outbreaks. There are reportedly 1,500 demonstrations planned across the nation this Saturday.

Once again, Americans are being forced to ask: “Who governs the country – and by what legitimate source of power?”

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the left rebelled like this with massive demonstrations. A million people gathered around the Pentagon. There were more than 2,500 domestic bombings in that period. The Berkeley free speech movement took over much of the campus and part of the city.

Then the American people responded decisively by giving President Richard Nixon one of the largest landslide electoral victories in American history. He earned 60.7 percent of the vote and won every state except Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.

It is easy to forget that the friendly, smiling President Ronald Reagan had earlier been the tough-minded opponent of the Berkeley radicals who fought with police and the California National Guard. In a speech to the California Council of Growers on April 7, 1970, Reagan asserted: “If it takes a bloodbath, let’s get it over with. No More appeasement.” Seven months later, Californians re-elected Reagan as governor with a 7.7 percent margin over his Democrat opponent.

Throughout our history, the American people have affirmed that elected representatives operating within the Constitution – not angry mobs – are the legitimate officials authorized to govern.

This rejection of mob rule goes back to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which was in part a response to a rebellion in Western Massachusetts. The Founding Fathers were all successful, rational people. They feared mobs that could violently attack people and property. The Founders wanted a stable system which would preserve freedom and establish an orderly rule of law.

The first hard test of this came in 1794 when farmers in Western Pennsylvania attacked a federal law which taxed small whiskey producers more than large whiskey makers. The farmers shot at government tax collectors and mobilized militia to chase out the federal agents trying to enforce the law. Nearly 5,000 farmers rose in rebellion and threatened to capture the city of Pittsburgh. President George Washington reacted with a proclamation on Aug. 17, 1794. He asserted that the farmers were engaging in treasonous acts and were, in effect, waging war against the United States. Washington called up 13,000 militia and personally led forces as far west as Bedford. The so-called Whiskey Rebellion collapsed. The parallels with the Los Angeles rioters attacking federal law enforcement would have been instantly understood by President Washington and the other Founding Fathers.

When South Carolina attempted to nullify federal tariffs in the 1830s, President Andrew Jackson, himself a southerner, got The Force Bill passed to authorize military force if South Carolina did not accept federal law. As the most famous general of his generation, Jackson’s threat to use force was real and effective. South Carolina obeyed the Constitution, and the crisis ended.

Of course, President Abraham Lincoln faced the largest, most violent effort to change the government by force. He successfully convinced the North to sustain a four-year civil war (the bloodiest in American history) to enforce the Constitution and secure the Union in every state.

In more recent history, President Dwight Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 when the state’s segregationist governor attempted to block nine African American students from going to public school. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson similarly sent federal troops to enforce civil rights laws in Alabama. Then, of course, President George H.W. Bush deployed military units to Los Angeles during the 1992 riots.

With this background, remember this weekend that the supposed “no kings” protests are a coalition of illegal immigrants, well-funded radical groups, and Democrats so overwhelmed by Trump Derangement Syndrome that they have lost all sense of representative democracy. Also remember that none of them was elected to unilaterally overturn our immigration laws.

This strange coalition has no moral authority – and is following the tradition of every other radical group which has threatened to break up America and undermine the Constitution. By contrast, calling out the National Guard and sending the armed forces to Los Angeles is in a tradition of Washington, Lincoln, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and others.

The contrast between Saturday’s parade celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States Army and radicals attempting to undermine the law will be a stunning moment of choosing for millions of Americans.

If the 2026 and 2028 elections come down to Republican efforts to uphold the Constitution and Democratic efforts to sow chaos, we may well see landslides in the tradition of Nixon and Reagan.

As of now, a new Quinnipiac poll found: “Twenty-one percent of voters approve of the way Democrats in Congress are handling their job, while 70 percent disapprove.”

History tells us that being identified with violence and radicalism can drive this 21 percent figure even lower. If the Democratic Party continues its current path, it’s going to spend a long time in the wilderness rediscovering a patriotic, constitutional ideology.

Let’s see how the weekend unfolds – and what Americans think about it.

For more commentary from Newt Gingrich, visit Gingrich360.com. Also, subscribe to the Newt’s World podcast.

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