WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday criticized Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for comments that she said encouraged violence at protests in Los Angeles, drawing a rebuke from the Mexican leader, who denied the claims.
At a press conference on Monday, Sheinbaum criticized violent acts during the protests against immigration raids and asked U.S. authorities to respect the rule of law while policing migration.
“Claudia Sheinbaum came out and encouraged more protests in L.A., and I condemn her for that,” Noem told reporters at the White House.
“She should not be encouraging violent protests that are going on,” Noem added. “People are allowed to peacefully protest. But the violence that we’re seeing is not acceptable, and it’s not going to happen in America.”
In a post on X, Sheinbaum said Noem “mistakenly mentioned” that she encouraged violent protests, which was “absolutely false.” Sheinbaum shared video of her original comments on Monday.
“Here is my statement from yesterday, in which I clearly condemn violent demonstrations. We have always been against them, and even more so now in the high office I hold,” Sheinbaum said.
The Mexican leader, whose government is in the middle of trade negotiations with the Trump administration, said she was certain the “misunderstanding will be cleared up.”
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington and Brendan O’Boyle in Mexico City, editing by Deepa Babington)
