Congressman calls Trump ‘a dangerous moron’ at SLO County town hall
Central Coast Congressman Salud Carbajal met with 150 San Luis Obispo County constituents at a town hall event on Monday, answering questions on everything from immigration enforcement to U.S. aid to Israel and deepening affordability issues.
But he saved his most quotable moment of the evening for the president, who he called “a dangerous moron.”
Amid his opening address to the crowd, Carbajal said that President Trump’s immigrations policies were inflicting fear and causing families to be separated up and down the Central Coast. He also declared that the country was facing an “open assault on civil rights” and an affordability crisis as the Iran war drags on.
“We are facing unprecedented times on the international, national and local levels, all because of this, what I would say, unhinged president,” he said. “That is why I support invoking the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump.”
At the hourlong event held at the Grover Beach Community Center, Carbajal answered dozens of questions from concerned community members.
Many asked Carbajal how he planned to protect voting rights, safeguard environmental regulations and restrict funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Others questioned what they could do to stand up to the Trump administration and defend their constitutional rights.
The congressman said the fight back to power would begin by voting and flipping the House of Representatives this November. If that happens, he argued that Democrats must then claw back congressional authority that the legislative branch has abdicated to the White House over the years.
“We need to take back a lot of the powers that Congress has given this president over the decades,” he said. “I don’t think Republicans and Democrats ever thought we would have such a moron in the White House, but we do, and a dangerous moron.”
Protesters urge Carbajal to stop accepting AIPAC donations
Some attendees — including around 20 anti-war protesters who gathered outside the event center — called on Carbajal to stop accepting campaign contributions from the weapons industry and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, also known as AIPAC.
Helena Pasquarella, an Ojai resident and a Peace and Freedom candidate who’s challenging Carbajal in the race for California’s 24th Congressional District, urged her opponent to promote an arms embargo and cease U.S. foreign aid to Israel.
“We need him to stand up,” she told The Tribune. “We need him to be a leader who leads with his heart and stops funding the war.”
At the entrance to the event, protesters handed out pamphlets that read “Wanted Salud Carbajal for genocide” and waved signs that said “Liberate Palestine” and “No more arms for Israel.”
During the question-and-answer portion of the event, Carbajal was pressed by multiple people to stop receiving donations from the AIPAC and the weapons industry. According to Track AIPAC, he’s received nearly $51,000 from the lobbying group.
He said the support he’s received from the defense industry is “nominal” but pledged to deny AIPAC contributions immediately.
“I will commit to you today that I will not accept any more AIPAC money whatsoever,” he said.
Carbajal says Biden could have had ‘better immigration policy’
The SLO County congressman was also asked whether Democrats would reliably cut ICE funding and protect immigrant neighbors, especially since President Joe Biden deported more people than Trump’s first term in office.
Carbajal said that Biden “could have had a better immigration policy” and failed to adequately protect the border, ultimately putting the Democratic Party in trouble.
However, he argued that Biden still implemented more humane immigration policy overall.
“It wasn’t what I would have liked to have seen, but it was more humane than what we’re seeing now,” Carbajal said. “I’m not absolving Biden. I’m glad to praise him and also slam him for the things that I think he could have done better.”
This story was originally published May 5, 2026 at 5:04 PM.
