JONATHAN TURLEY: Wasserman Schultz blames Trump, guns for DC attack, but spares Biden

Opinion

JONATHAN TURLEY: Wasserman Schultz blames Trump, guns for DC attack, but spares Biden

Florida Democrat suggests president's military deployment policies motivated Afghan national shooter

Jonathan Turley Fox News

Published

November 29, 2025 10:30am EST

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Rep Wasserman Schultz says Trump fails to blame himself for National Guard shooting

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz condemned President Trump, arguing he fails to look inward and reconsider his own policies as he reacts to the shooting of two National Guard members,

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Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., has long performed a key role for many on the left. When there is an argument barred by decency or decorum, Wasserman Schultz is happy to make it, from attacking journalists in her defense of censorship to attempting to rig an election and bar Republicans from ballots as part of her defense of democracy. However, on Friday, the Florida representative set a new low in American politics: attempting to assign blame for the shooting of two National Guardsmen not on the attacker, but President Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 27: Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) speaks during a press conference on new legislation to support Holocaust education nationwide at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 27, 2023 in Washington, DC. A bipartisan group of House Members held the press conference to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day and share their stories about their Jewish family members or Jewish constituents in their district. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

On CNN’s "News Central," Wasserman Schultz declared:

"This is a deeply concerning situation, but, you know, it’s one that I think we have to — it begs the question, would an individual have flown across the country to target law enforcement officers in Washington, D.C.? And, I mean, the answer is likely no. So why wasn‘t the president‘s first thought, ‘Wow, you know, maybe I should reconsider deploying military troops in the nation‘s capital or in any city?’ Particularly not when they haven‘t coordinated closely with the leadership of these cities and when we have law enforcement that are quite capable of handling the criminal justice issues that are — that we need law enforcement to focus on, and not our military."

There is a good-faith debate over the deployment of National Guard personnel in cities. However, the mayor of Washington, D.C., has worked with the Administration on that deployment, and crime has fallen in the Capitol. They have been coordinating with the city.

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Nevertheless, Wasserman Schultz pressed on:

"I just think, you know, the president looks everywhere except inward to blame his own policies. We need to make sure that we don‘t have our military deployed in our cities, doing — handling law enforcement responsibilities. And we need to make sure that we address gun violence. We certainly need to make sure we always have the proper and appropriate and tight, tight vetting processes, and those should be reviewed. But it‘s never the president‘s fault or his policies when it comes to his reaction, and it’s pretty disgusting."

National Guard shooting victim, Sarah Beckstrom

File photo of National Guardsman Sarah Beckstrom who was wounded in a shooting incident in Washington D.C., on the evening of November 26, 2025. (Provided by Department of Justice)

D.C. has some of the strongest gun control measures in the nation. Moreover, this is a crime committed with a handgun brought from another area with strong gun control, Washington State.

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Wasserman Schultz is also assuming that it was the deployment that motivated the shooter, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national. Lakanwal entered the U.S. on September 8, 2021, under Operation Allies Welcome, a program established by former Democratic President Joe Biden after the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. Wasserman Schultz, however, does not blame former President Joe Biden for his presence in the United States. (Lakanwal, a former member of a CIA unit in Afghanistan, was reportedly granted asylum under the Trump Administration in April).

Investigators are still working to discover the motive of Lakanwal for murdering one soldier and critically wounding another. However, Wasserman Schultz feels entirely comfortable in suggesting that it was the deployment of the Guard in cities over Democratic objections. Of course, a view other possibilities come to mind. First, it could be an act of religious-based terrorism. Second, it could be an act of mental illness. Third, it could be a personal grievance with the U.S. government.

Photo of National Guard shooting suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal

Undated file photo of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., November 26, 2025. (Provided by Department of Justice)

Killing soldiers in the nation's Capitol can be appealing for any of these motivations or a combination of motivations. It is not obvious that someone travels across the country because this is where you can find personnel on the streets. After all, there are also troops deployed in other states closer to Washington state. There are also large bases in Washington state where military personnel are present in large numbers in public areas.

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A shooter with any of these motivations could view the location as amplifying his grievances against the government. Wasserman Schultz seems to suggest that Trump is responsible for making troops targets due to the controversial use of the Guard and supplying targets for a terrorist.

The most important point for Wasserman Schultz is a familiar one: Trump did it.

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Yet, blaming the deployment is like blaming the Republican members for the mass shooting at the 2017 softball field. After all, if they had not made themselves targets, James T. Hodgkinson would not have gone there. Hodgkinson, a former Bernie Sanders supporter, hated Republicans and would have found another gathering to carry out his murderous plan. In the same way, Lakanwal may have been on the hunt for any soldiers as a symbol of the United States in the Capitol.

National Guard shooting victim, Andrew Wolfe

File photo of National Guardsman Andrew Wolfe who was wounded in a shooting incident in Washington D.C., on the evening of November 26, 2025. (Provided by Department of Justice)

The point is that we do not know. The effort to use this tragedy for political purposes is to dishonor the victims and capitalize on their deaths. Few would feel comfortable getting into the head of a homicidal madman without any evidence or support. However, that appears to be a unique skill set for Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

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Jonathan Turley is a Fox News Media contributor and the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of "The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage" (Simon & Schuster, June 18, 2024).

JONATHAN TURLEY: Wasserman Schultz blames Trump, guns for DC attack, but spares Biden