Mexican President Falsely Accused of Fueling L.A. Protests
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By Chiara Vercellone and Eva Maitland
What happened: Conservative and pro-Russian social media users are citing an outdated video of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to claim that she encouraged the protests in Los Angeles — a move that was portrayed as foreign interference in domestic U.S. politics.
A closer look: Accounts claiming that Sheinbaum called for protests in the U.S. cited a clip of her stating: “If necessary, we’ll mobilize. We don’t want taxes on remittances [money sent from Mexicans in the U.S. to family back home] from our fellow countrymen. From the U.S. to Mexico.”
As protests over U.S. immigration raids erupted in Los Angeles on June 6, conservative commentator Benny Johnson posted a clip of Sheinbaum’s speech and added, “BREAKING: Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum is now calling for protests in the United States.” The post garnered 5.6 million views and 37,000 likes in one day.
On June 8, pro-Trump website WLTReport.com (NewsGuard Trust Score: 0/100) published an article titled “Mexican President Calls For More Protests In The United States,” which stated, “President Sheibaum’s [sic] statement comes as thousands of rioters have hit the streets of Los Angeles and New York City to protest ICE raids on illegal immigrants.”
Russian state-owned site Rg.ru published an article on June 9 that stated: “The protests continued into Sunday evening, with many participants waving Mexican and Palestinian flags and holding signs condemning ICE. … Fuel was added to the fire by the news that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum openly called on the Mexican diaspora in the United States to protest, which is an unprecedented case in relations between the two countries.”
Actually: The quote from Sheinbaum was taken from a May 24, 2025, press conference, 13 days before the start of the Los Angeles protests.
Sheinbaum’s remarks focused on a 3.5 percent tax proposed by the Trump administration on any income Mexican immigrants in the U.S. send to their families in Mexico. Sheinbaum said in the speech: “It is unjust that on top of the taxes they [Mexicans in the U.S.] pay on their income, that there would be a tax on the money they send to their families here. That cannot be the case.” Sheinbaum did not address the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Reacting to the L.A. protests, Sheinbaum told reporters on June 9: “We do not agree with violent actions as a form of protest. Burning police cars appears to be more an act of provocation than of resistance. We condemn violence, no matter where it comes from. We call on the Mexican community to act pacifically and not allow itself to be provoked.”