The protests and scattered clashes with law enforcement in Los Angeles have played out live on cable news, with top anchors scrambling to cover the events in person.
They have been joined by Dr. Phil.
Once a genial on-air psychologist known as a sidekick to Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Phil McGraw has emerged in recent years as a conservative-leaning personality with ties to President Trump, whom he interviewed, sympathetically, several times during the 2024 election season.
On Friday, Dr. McGraw and a camera crew from his fledgling television network, MeritTV, were recording in Los Angeles before and after the raids by agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Dr. McGraw seemed to be promoting Mr. Trump’s anti-immigration agenda by embedding with immigration agents during a raid in Chicago in January. His experience resulted in a semi-viral video clip in which Dr. Phil approached a detained man and asked questions like, “You’ve never been deported before?”
“You’re Dr. Phil,” the man replied, seemingly surprised. “I’ve seen you on ‘Dr. Phil,’ you know? On TV.”
A MeritTV spokesman said that in Los Angeles Dr. McGraw spent time with immigration enforcement agents but did not participate in any raids himself. “In order to not escalate any situation, Dr. Phil McGraw did not join and was not embedded, as he previously was in Chicago,” the spokesman, Jerry Sharell, said in a statement.
Dr. McGraw also interviewed Thomas D. Homan, Mr. Trump’s border czar. Mr. Sharell said their conversation was taped on the days before and after Friday’s raids, although Dr. McGraw did spend time with Mr. Homan at a local Homeland Security field office in Los Angeles on Friday. The interview is airing on MeritTV, which features true crime programming and talk shows like “Dr. Phil Primetime.”
