In a Tuesday interview on Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) called for an end to the violent protests that are happening across the United States.

With some mayors refusing federal assistance, Scalise urged local leaders to do more to protect Americans, who the House minority whip said “deserve” to be “safe and secure in their homes.”

“The president’s got a responsibility to keep Americans safe, and I’m glad that he’s carrying out his duties as the President of the United States to do that, even if some of these local mayors are not going to be willing to keep their people safe,” Scalise told Fox News Channel’s Bill Hemmer. “And you’ve seen the defund the police movement, and whether it’s Joe Biden saying he’s going to allocate money away from police officers, that is defunding police. That’s not where most Americans are. And Americans deserve to be safe in their homes and to be safe when they go about their business, and right now, some of these mayors are not providing that, which is very unfortunate.”

“Look, I strongly support peaceful protests, but we have seen in some of these cities anarchists have taken over and going out and looted and burned down buildings,” he added. “That’s not peacefully protesting. And that’s where you’ve got these mayors that need to be standing up and protecting their communities. Some are doing it really well, by the way, but some aren’t. And I think people want to be safe and secure in their homes. They deserve that. It’s a right. They pay taxes to have police forces to keep them safe.”

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