‘Accountability has a face’: ‘The Weeknight’ co-hosts react to California’s mask ban

Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking action against the Trump administration over its sweeping immigration raids in California. On Saturday, the governor signed a bill that prevents U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and other law enforcement officials from wearing masks in his state. The law is set to take effect in January.

In response, acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said the law would have “no effect on our operations.” In a statementEssayli claimed “the State of California has no jurisdiction over the federal government” and advised Newsom that if he “wants to regulate our agents, he must go through Congress.”

On Monday, the co-hosts of “The Weeknight” shared their reactions to California’s move. Symone Sanders Townsend said the situation reminded her of the HBO series “Watchmen.” In the show, Sanders Townsend said, masks “serve as a double-edged sword,” with vigilantes using them to protect their identities and police using them as a way to shield themselves from accountability. “They become a faceless tool to carry out the law,” she explained.

The BLN host and former Biden White House official said that kind of approach doesn’t belong in a democracy. “I think about the fact that in a democracy, accountability should have a face,” she said. “That is a hallmark of a democracy, right? Accountability has a face. You can put a name to it — who wields power has a face and a name. It’s not in secret.”

“And when law enforcement dons masks and no insignia, honestly, the people then are unable to effectively hold them accountable,” Sanders Townsend said.

While Michael Steele applauded Newsom for “drawing the line” and “pressing the administration” on the issue, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee also agreed with Essayli that the correct path for such a restriction is through Congress.

However, Steele noted the White House has also often acted outside of the normal political process, testing the bounds of executive power. Because of this, he argued, many Democratic governors have had to fight fire with fire and “stand in the breach for their people.”

Alicia Menendez weighed in, saying she couldn’t “help but think of the contrast between all of these agents in masks and all of these folks who are showing up and doing their jobs as gardeners or construction workers and speaking Spanish to one another, knowing that they live in a country where there is racial profiling that’s been sanctioned by the Supreme Court of the United States.”

You can watch Sanders Townsend, Steele and Menendez’s full discussion in the clip at the top of the page.