The Los Angeles riots represent a defining moment for the Democratic Party.

For the last several days, news cameras have depicted a city in chaos. Violent mobs have waved Mexican flags as cars burned in the background. Looters have smashed store windows and run off with stolen goods. 

Rioters have broken off pieces of sidewalk to throw at police. We saw similar scenes during the Rodney King riots of 1992 and the summer of Black Lives Matter in 2020.

The riots have clearly grown out of control, and the Los Angeles police cannot cope. Meanwhile, Governor Newsom, a Democrat, has refused to call out the California National Guard — and is fighting President Trump’s effort to use the military to restore peace and safety to Los Angeles. This is all made more dangerous by the fact that the rioters are attacking federal law enforcement officers. 

Meanwhile, most Democrats have rejected the idea that this violence is even taking place. Vice President Harris said of the Los Angeles riots that “demonstrations in defense of our immigrant neighbors have been overwhelmingly peaceful.”

Most Americans are watching what’s happening. They don’t regard criminals who have illegally entered America and set cars on fire as “our immigrant neighbors.” They do not see property destruction and theft as legitimate protest. Normal Americans most likely think Ms. Harris and Mr. Newsom are out of touch with reality. 

Further, most Americans would see where these Democratic politicians live — and the level of security they get — and realize that they don’t have any illegal immigrant neighbors. 

More likely, Ms. Harris and Mr. Newsom would behave like the liberals on Nantucket after  Governor DeSantis’s planeload of illegal immigrants landed on their island. The state government offered the immigrants shelter at a military base on the Massachusetts mainland and they reportedly found later housing elsewhere in the Bay State. The California governor and former vice president are being emotionally dishonest and tone deaf.

As a further example, as rioters have destroyed property and attacked police, Ms. Harris said protest is “a power tool — essential in the fight for justice. I continue to support the millions of Americans who are standing up to protect our most fundamental rights and freedoms.”

Once again, Democrats are supporting ideological positions held by small minorities of Americans and opposed by vast majorities. 

The Democrats support men playing in women’s sports and using women’s locker rooms. They support teachers brainwashing grade school children with counterculture values and lying to parents about it. 

They want to replace merit-based achievement with group identity preference. They defend criminal illegal immigrants and ignore American victims of crime.

So, the Democrats have been on a nonstop ride toward shrinking their base and alienating most Americans for years. The riots in Los Angeles are the latest example of this pattern.

With the potentially 1,500 “No Kings” demonstrations being organized around the country during the Army’s 250th Anniversary Parade at Washington on Saturday, the left is clearly rejecting normal Americans’ concerns about violence, public safety, and property destruction.

The parade will be a real test of whether Democrats are more focused on their own self-righteousness, rage, and hostility toward Mr. Trump — or reaching out to the millions of Americans concerned about criminal illegal immigrants and deliberate attacks on law enforcement officers.

If the Democrats continue following the path they’re on, the 2026 and 2028 elections may render their party irrelevant.