Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Nithya Raman is facing backlash over a social media campaign interview with an influencer where she appears to call LAPD police chief Jim McDonnell ”a fascist liar” with a red X across his face.
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she → face → face
The interview, with prominent lefty influencer Ed Choi, opens with images of Mayor Karen Bass and McDonnell as Raman says: “Only you can stop fascist liars.”
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you → open → liars
McDonnell, who Raman has committed to firing if she is elected mayor, is pictured with a large red X through his face in the social media clip and the police union described as a ”dangerous dog whistle.”
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union → commit → whistle
During the interview, Raman also vows to replace McDonnell if elected mayor.
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Raman → vow → McDonnell
The clip was filmed Sunday at the Los Angeles Trade-Technical College where Raman held her First 100 day in Office speech interview and has since been removed from social media.
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Raman → film → media
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents rank-and-file LAPD officers, blasted the imagery as dangerous.
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which → represent → imagery
“Nithya Raman’s social media post that circles Chief McDonnell’s face in red and then crosses out his face is no joke, in fact it is dangerous,” the union’s Board of Directors told the California Post.
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Board → circle → Post
“The violent political rhetoric that has overtaken our public discourse has in many instances led to violence.
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that → overtake → violence
“Raman’s social media post can be seen as a dog whistle by unhinged individuals to go after Chief McDonnell.”
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post → see → McDonnell
The union noted that both McDonnell and Bass have security details because they face threats and argued that Raman had “amplified those threats” and potentially endangered officers assigned to protect them.
“It also underscores why she has no business leading Los Angeles,” the board said.
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board → note → Angeles
The imagery also alarmed rank-and-file officers.
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imagery → alarm → officers
One LAPD member told The Post that putting the red X over McDonnell’s face effectively made the chief a target and called the video “extremely dangerous.”
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chief → tell → video
The officer questioned Raman’s judgment, saying that if she did not recognize the potential danger of singling out the city’s police chief with that imagery, she “shouldn’t be mayor.”
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she → question → imagery
However, Raman’s campaign blamed the creator for the way the video was edited and insisted Raman never called Bass, McDonnell or LAPD officers “fascist liars.”
“Nithya was interviewed by several social media creators on Sunday,” the campaign told The Post.
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campaign → blame → Post
“In one interview, the creator asked her to repeat his phrase, ‘only you can stop fascist liars,’ which she said in reference to ICE and the Trump administration’s violent kidnappings that continue in our city today.
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that → ask → city
The campaign said the video was later edited to show Bass during that portion of the interview.
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video → say → interview
“Nithya never used that phrase to describe Mayor Bass, Chief McDonnell, or LAPD officers, which is why we removed ourselves from the post and asked the creator to take it down immediately,” the campaign said.
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campaign → use → it
And during the interview itself, Choi explicitly invokes Bass and McDonnell while questioning Raman.
“Los Angeles has become extremely fascist, especially because Karen Bass appointed Jim McDonnell as the chief of police,” Choi tells her.
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Choi → invoke → her
He then asks: “I wanted to know, especially for the immigrant community that’s watching, what is your plan to de-fascicize this city?”
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plan → ask → city
Raman responds by saying LAPD protects federal immigration agents and calling for a shake-up at the top of the department.
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LAPD → respond → department
“I think there’s a lot that we can do to make sure our LAPD is actually protecting people instead of protecting ICE on our streets, as we saw happen,” Raman says.
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Raman → think → streets
“I think that starts with a culture shift from the very top and new leadership in the department.”
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that → think → department
Raman then singles out McDonnell.
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Raman → single → McDonnell
“I don’t believe that Chief McDonnell has met this moment,” she says.
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she → believe → moment
“And I will make sure that we are appointing a police chief who can really respond to the needs that immigrant Angelenos have and that every resident of Los Angeles has.”
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resident → make → Angeles
The video closes with Choi and Raman repeating: “Only you can stop fascist liars.”
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you → close → liars
Bass also blasted the video Tuesday, calling the rhetoric “dangerous and extreme.”
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Bass → blast → rhetoric
“Labeling them [police] ‘fascists,’ when officers put on the uniform every day to keep us safe — is crossing the line,” Bass said.
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Bass → label → line
“It has no place in this city — let alone from someone trying to become mayor.”
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It → have → someone
The video was later deleted, but not before members of The California Post viewed it and multiple groups captured and preserved copies.
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groups → delete → copies
The video surfaced the same day The Post exclusively revealed that Raman spent roughly three hours at a staff happy hour at The Black Cat in Silver Lake on June 6, 2025, as federal immigration raids and protests erupted across Los Angeles.
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raids → surface → Angeles
Photos obtained by The Post showed Raman raising a drink and toasting with members of her team.
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Raman → obtain → team
Raman had appeared at an anti-ICE protest earlier that day, where she was photographed holding a sign.
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she → appear → sign
Her campaign told The Post she spent about 90 minutes at the protest before heading to the staff gathering.
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she → tell → gathering
Sixteen months later, Raman is making the city’s response to those raids a centerpiece of her campaign against Bass.
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response → make → Bass
Raman previously voted to confirm McDonnell after Bass nominated him as LAPD chief in 2024
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Bass → vote → newsletters
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