Former Republican Senate staffer Amanda Carpenter on MSNBC on August 14, 2025

One former Republican U.S. Senate staffer is now issuing a direct challenge to her fellow conservatives about President Donald Trump's newest controversial policy.

During a Thursday interview on MSNBC, Amanda Carpenter — who was a communications staffer to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) — took Trump to task for his federal takeover of Washington D.C. and for Republicans' complicity in betraying their core principles. She insisted that Trump's basis for deploying the National Guard and federal law enforcement on D.C. streets was false, and that it was a dark harbinger for other Democratic-run cities.

"What this is about, and why this is demonstrated so clearly by what Donald Ttrump and his agents just did outside [California Governor Gavin] Newsom's press conference, is that this is about assembling troops, and having them at the ready to not only advance Trump's agenda, but to suppress criticism, to intimidate perceived political opposition, to harass and intimidate people," Carpenter said. "That is where this is going."

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"This is why Trump and his allies talk about, 'we're not going to just do this in California, we're not going to just do this in the District of Columbia.' This is coming to blue cities near you because those are places where Donald Trump is intent on shutting down critics," she continued. "You hear him talk about having a strike force at the ready to put down protests that haven't even happened yet. So this is where this is going."

Carpenter acknowledged that while big cities like Los Angeles and Washington D.C. aren't without crime, it doesn't merit an emergency declaration and federal intervention. She insisted that Trump's use of federal law enforcement to take over cities was a stark example of the same kinds of "government overreach" that Republicans have criticized during Democratic administrations. And she issued a direct challenge to her fellow conservatives to stand by their principles — and against the Trump administration.

"The conservatives i used to run with used to be afraid of big government," she said. "I saw big government happen last night in the streets of the District of Columbia, when there were troops screening people for no reason. What were these troops doing? We were told they're going to stop violent crime. They were looking at people to have seat belts."

"Everyone is sold under the idea that we have to stop the violent criminals. that is not what these troops are doing. they're strolling around the national monuments and the streets of Georgetown to have a big show of force just like the military parade that Donald Trump wanted," she added. "...This is about political intimidation. and harassment. And this is the biggest government overreach I've certainly seen since i've come to Washington. And I challenge to find any conservative: Find a bigger one in the streets happening right now than a Democrat did."

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Watch Carpenter's segment below, or by clicking this link.

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