So how’s that “Defund the Police” thing looking?
In New York, at least, I’d say not so great.
As I covered recently, Mayor Bill de Blasio — who, to the tune of soaring officer retirement, cut the police budget by $1.5 billion and high-fived himself over a record-setting low prison population — is currently the owner of an incredible crime spree.
And, of course, the Defund movement’s had a substantial impact on shopping:
Chaos in Chicago last night as mass looting broke out after police officers returned fire on a suspect that reportedly shot at them
pic.twitter.com/T5YWLPfNtj— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 10, 2020
Well, big news: Joe Biden’s not into it.
So says DNC communications director Xochitl Hinojosa.
Speaking to FNC program America’s Newsroom Wednesday, Xochitl insisted the Biden campaign does “not support defunding the police.”
Well, does the campaign support the police policing?
‘Cause, as noted by RedState’s Nick Arama, we’re currently seeing a bit of this (Language Warning):
More scenes of violence and theft tonight in downtown Portland involving BLM protesters. #PortlandRiots #antifa #BlackLivesMatter Video by @livesmattershow. pic.twitter.com/ndtIHmkycC
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 17, 2020
TONIGHT: Here is what took place before the man crashed his car into a tree here in Downtown Portland
BLM thugs began to harass and physically assault him and his female partner in the street for defending someone they robbed
He then began to drive away to evade them pic.twitter.com/5oPev8Fiar
— Drew Hernandez (@livesmattershow) August 17, 2020
I’m not sure a stiff position on law and order’s been sufficiently laid out, but here’s how Xochitl put it:
“The campaign has been very clear when it comes to defunding the police. They do not support defunding the police, and I don’t know how many times we have to say this on this network or others, but that is the case.”
As noted by The Daily Wire, newly-minted VP candidate Kamala Harris — a former prosecutor — hasn’t had so much to say.
Xochitl was responding to an op-ed by The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Riley.
From the article:
Once a tough-on-crime prosecutor, she now can’t answer a simple question about defunding the police.
When asked if Kamala would address the Defund movement during the DNC, Xochitl played it coy:
“What you will hear from Kamala Harris is you will hear that she will be a steady leader and ready to lead on day one.”
Per Xochitl, you should prepare to be united:
“And a Joe Biden-Kamala Harris presidency is one that will lift people up, unite our country, and make sure that with the unrest happening all across this country that we’re doing everything we can to bring people together. We are about inclusion, not exclusion, and that’s what you will see in our program over these four nights versus next week, you will see divisiveness, you will see chaos. That is exactly what we expect from Republicans next week.”
We’ll see chaos? Bold move.
Back to cops, host Sandra Smith pressed:
“So you will talk about the fact that you’ve got police retiring in record numbers across the country, a drop in morale that is harmful to people who don’t feel safe in some of our streets? Is that a guarantee we’re going to hear about that tonight? Because that’s been missing from the last couple nights.”
Xochitl asserted Joe’s on top of racial justice, and he’s previously said cops are good folks.
“At the same time,” she continued, “we need to make sure that we are providing law enforcement the tools they need and the training that they need in order to do their jobs, and right now the Trump administration hasn’t done that.”
It seems to me the Trump administration isn’t supposed to be training local law enforcement. But either way, the DNC’s got a ways to go to prove they’re anti-unrest and pro law enforcement.
After all, Squad member Ayanna Pressley appeared to recently call for more of it:
And Black Lives Matter — a group with which Democrats have aligned themselves — recently offered the following:
Looting justified? BLM leaders say “they deserve free stuff, it’s part of reparations.” We’ll discuss @MorningAnswer @DanProft pic.twitter.com/Ym2lf4eoz7
— Amy Jacobson (@AmyJacobson) August 11, 2020
It appears the Democrats have painted themselves into quite a corner. Similarly to 2016, in the months leading up to an election, they’ve defined themselves in some of the most far-Left ways possible. That won’t bode well with voters in the middle, whose support — as observed by BET found Bob Johnson last year — is necessary for victory.
They’re in a bit of the same spot all over.
If the Democrats want to turn it around, in my view, it’ll take a lot more than just saying they don’t want to fire cops.
Otherwise, they’ve done to their chances the same black-suited revolutionaries they’ve condoned have done to major American cities.
-ALEX
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