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The White House insisted Wednesday that President Donald Trump "supports peaceful protests," despite his own comments a day earlier saying anyone who protests Saturday's military parade to honor the 250th birthday of the Army "will be met with very big force."
Trump made the comments on Tuesday in the Oval Office as he defended his deployment of National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles to quell the demonstrations over his immigration arrests.
A day later, White House spokesman Karoline Leavitt appeared to walk back those remarks, insisting Trump believes in "the right of Americans to peacefully protest."
"He supports the First Amendment, but that is not the majority of the behavior that we have seen taking place in Los Angeles," Leavitt said.
The remarks and questions over the president's support of the first amendment follow his deployment of the National Guard and the Marines to L.A. in recent days to quell the protests over his immigration arrests.