VIDEO: CA Democrats Tried Bullying Carl DeMaio – But It Backfired

California Democrat politicians are facing harsh criticism after they openly bullied and harassed CA State Representative Carl DeMaio on the Assembly floor this week as he attempted to speak out against controversial provisions in the annual legislative resolution commemorating LGBT Pride month (House Resolution 43).

The video of the incident has gone viral – with the behavior of Democrats being so immature that some online commentators thought it was an SNL skit rather than an actual legislative floor debate.

Before you watch the video of the incident below, here’s the context that led to this confrontation:

• Ever since Carl DeMaio was sworn in as a state representative a mere six months ago, he has been a sharp thorn in the sides of California Democrats who are used to passing crazy laws with little or no opposition. DeMaio’s entry into the legislature has shaken that dynamic up – and they don’t like it.

• DeMaio has become the guy that speaks bluntly without worrying about which special interest group may get upset.  As a former radio talk show host, DeMaio is quick on his feet, unfazed by interruptions, and speaks without notes. (Something that comes in handy in the video below.)

• DeMaio is a policy powerhouse – pumping out innovative bills to address the top problems facing the state. For example, DeMaio was appointed to the state budget committee, but in just two meetings of that committee, DeMaio exposed the use of accounting gimmicks in the state budget, money laundering of state tax dollars to left-wing political groups, and uncovered a crisis in Medi-Cal caused by giving illegal immigrants free healthcare.  

• Democrats have gotten used to killing bills with procedural tricks without actually having to vote against them. DeMaio has vowed to put an end to that and has been forcing recorded votes on the Assembly Floor – putting Democrats on record against popular reform ideas.  DeMaio openly says he’s building a “dirt file” against vulnerable Democrats for use in the 2026 midterm election so Republicans can flip seats.

• Democrats have fought back against DeMaio – using bullying tactics.  In January, Democrats put the word out that DeMaio needed to stop speaking out on the floor or they would kill all his bills.  They have since followed through on their threat. In March, Democrats removed DeMaio from the State Budget Committee as a punishment for exposing the wasteful spending and accounting scams mentioned above.

Which brings us to this week’s video.

DeMaio rose to speak in opposition to the wording of the LGBT Pride Resolution (House Resolution 43). DeMaio has credibility on this issue that is problematic for Democrats: DeMaio is California’s first openly-gay Republican State Assemblymember. Put simply, Democrats can’t smear him as a homophobe.

DeMaio did not ambush the Democrats – in fact, he offered a friendly amendment a week beforehand to fix the problems in the resolution.

In his remarks, DeMaio calmly explained that the resolution included false claims and endorsed controversial and extreme policy provisions.  DeMaio simply wanted those controversial sections removed so Republicans and Democrats could unite and unanimously vote to wish the LGBT community a Happy Pride month.

But instead of allowing DeMaio his traditional 5 minutes of uninterrupted time (per the Assembly Rules) to speak, Democrats acted like schoolyard bullies and played a childish game.

Ironically, the Democrats’ Pride resolution contained a clause that that called for “treating everyone with respect and valuing our differences.”  Their treatment of DeMaio on the Assembly Floor reveals they are hypocritical frauds.