On January 17, 2026, Sean Hannity put Democrat Rep. Shri Thanedar on the spot and read his own voting record back to him on live television, a moment conservatives have been waiting for. The clip — circulated and highlighted by Dave Rubin in a Direct Message segment — showed a plainly uncomfortable Thanedar forced to answer why he voted against bills aimed at removing illegal aliens who commit serious crimes.
It is not just theater; Thanedar’s record is clear. He voted against multiple measures that would have made deportation mandatory for illegal immigrants convicted of serious offenses — including the Laken Riley Act and bills described as targeting sex offenders and those who prey on women — votes that are now impossible to spin away.
When pressed, Thanedar offered the familiar liberal dodge: no bill is perfect and he couldn’t cherry-pick sections he liked, even as he insisted people who break U.S. laws should be deported. Hannity’s line-by-line grilling exposed the disconnect — the compassionate-sounding rhetoric from a lawmaker who repeatedly sided with obstructing enforcement.
Worse, Thanedar has doubled down on radical positions that put the safety of Americans last; he recently announced an Abolish ICE Act in response to the tragic Minneapolis shooting involving an ICE agent, choosing political theater over practical solutions that keep communities safe. That posture — calling for the dismantling of enforcement while voting against deportation measures — is the height of hypocrisy.
Americans remember why the Laken Riley Act and similar bills found support: citizens are fed up with a system that releases dangerous people back onto the streets. When common-sense enforcement measures pass the House with bipartisan support, but Democrats like Thanedar vote no, voters should see exactly where priorities lie.
Conservative readers should take this clip as a warning and a rallying cry: no more trusting political platitudes. Hold these Democrats accountable at the ballot box, demand real border security and enforcement, and never stop reminding Washington that protecting American families is not negotiable.
