Conservative commentator Michael Knowles tore into Gov. Gavin Newsom on “TMZ Live” — ripping his response to the L.A. ICE protests and claiming it was such a mess, Trump had no choice but to step in.

Knowles pointed to torched cop cars, assaulted officers, and even an ‘illegal alien’ allegedly tossing a Molotov cocktail as proof L.A. was in serious trouble — blaming the chaos on Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass‘ failure to act accordingly, which forced Trump to bring in the National Guard and send in the Marines.

When our hosts pushed back — noting the chaos was limited to one small area — Knowles doubled down, saying Trump’s actually showing restraint in the matter… and this kind of tough crackdown is exactly what voters are begging for.