White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shot back at “stupid” questions about potential protesters at President Trump’s military parade on Saturday.

A reporter asked Ms. Leavitt Wednesday whether Mr. Trump would support peaceful protests on Saturday, after issuing a stark warning for any protesters planning to disrupt his military parade in Washington.

Ms. Leavitt shot back, saying, “Of course the president supports peaceful protests, what a stupid question.”

She said earlier that the president “absolutely supports peaceful protests, he supports the First Amendment, he supports the right of Americans to make their voices heard.”

“He does not support violence of any kind, he does not support assaulting law enforcement officers who are simply trying to do their jobs,” she said.

Mr. Trump said Tuesday, “If there’s any protesters that want to come out, they will be met with very big force.”

“I haven’t heard about a protest, but you know, these are people that hate our country,” he told reporters at the White House. “But they will be met with very heavy force.”

A huge military parade and festival is set for Saturday to celebrate the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday, which also happens to be Mr. Trump’s birthday.

Officials have estimated that hundreds of thousands of people will travel to Washington to witness the spectacle.

The president has heavily criticized the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters in Los Angeles, calling them animals, paid insurrectionists, agitators and bad people.

He has sent thousands of California National Guardsmen and roughly 700 active-duty Marines to protect ICE agents as they make arrests in L.A.

“The president supports the right of Americans to peacefully protest, he supports the First Amendment, but that is not the majority of the behavior that we have seen taking place in Los Angeles,” Ms. Leavitt said Wednesday. “We have seen mobs of violent rioters and agitators assaulting law enforcement officers, assaulting our federal immigration authorities.”

• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.