Daily Wire
By Ryan Saavedra
The Washington Post debunked the Biden administration’s false claim that Republicans are the ones that support defunding the police, a far-left political movement championed by many Democrats.
The false claims have come from a senior adviser to Democrat President Joe Biden, Cedric Richmond, and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
Richmond said during a Fox News interview:
“Let’s talk about who defunded the police. When we were in Congress last year trying to pass … an emergency relief plan for cities that were cash-strapped and laying off police and firefighters, it was the Republicans who objected to it. And in fact, they didn’t get funding until the American Rescue Plan, which, our plan allowed state and local governments to replenish their police departments and do the other things that are needed. So look, Republicans are very good at staying on talking points of who says ‘defund the police,’ but the truth is, they defunded the police.”
“That was voted into law by Democrats just a couple of months ago,” Psaki said about the American Rescue Plan. “Some might say that the other party was for defunding the police; I’ll let others say that, but that’s a piece.”
Psaki was challenged during a press briefing late last month on whether she could name one Republican that has ever supported defunding the police. She was unable to name even one.
The Washington Post noted that even though Republicans voted against Biden’s massive coronavirus stimulus package, “no one voted to cut, or defund, anything.”
“Rather, Democrats proposed $350 billion in emergency funds for state and local governments, and Republicans voted against those extra funds. That’s not a reduction,” The Washington Post reported. “In this case, there’s not even a line item [in the bill] to attach to the White House’s claim that Republicans are trying to defund the police.”
The Post gave the Biden administration three Pinocchios for the claim that Republicans were the ones trying to defund the police, concluding “there is little basis to claim that Republicans are trying to ‘defund the police.’”
The Daily Wire reported:
Democrats, on the other hand, have explicitly called for defunding the police and have pushed measures to make it happen.
Police departments across are experiencing a staffing crisis following months of demonization by Democrats who called the police “cancer” and pushed for “no more policing.” The crisis comes as homicide rates increased 30% last year and have already increased 24% this year, The New York Times reported.
Forbes Magazine reported last year on numerous Democrat-controlled cities that took action to defund the police in wake of the far-left riots that gripped the country following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
In just the last week, three Democrat members of Congress have called for defunding the police, including far-left Reps. Ayanna Pressley (MA), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), and Jamaal Bowman (NY).
The GOP quickly responded by releasing a list highlighting just a few examples of big name Democrats who they say called for either defunding the police or reallocating police resources over the last year:
- Joe Biden said he supported reallocating police resources during the campaign.
- Kamala Harris said “I applaud Eric Garcetti” for defunding the Los Angeles police.
- Harris said “we have to reimagine public safety” while discussing lowering the police presence in communities.
- Biden’s Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said officials must heed calls to “decrease police budgets and the scope, role, and responsibility of police in our lives.”
- As Boston Mayor, Biden’s Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh proposed a budget to divert funding from law enforcement.
- Biden’s Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke supported efforts to “defund the police.”
- Democrat Rep. Val Demings called the Minneapolis City Council “very thoughtful” for voting to dismantle the police.
- Nancy Pelosi and fellow House Democrats refused to criticize the Minneapolis City Council for defunding the police.
- Democrat Maxine Waters called for protestors to “get more confrontational” with police.
- Democrat Ilhan Omar called for dismantling the Minneapolis Police Department.
- Democrat Cori Bush called for defunding police as a congresswoman-elect.
- A Democratic National Convention panelist advocated for defunding the police: “We’re talking about abolishing the police…ICE…prisons.”
- A Minneapolis City Council member defended defunding the police, but said she didn’t “have all the answers” on who would respond to violent crime.
- Democrat Rep. Jim Clyburn compared federal law enforcement to the Nazi Gestapo, and later ignored looting and arson in D.C., claiming the only violence he saw in D.C. was from police.
- Democrat Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he doesn’t want police officers to respond to rape.
- Former Democrat Rep. Joe Kennedy said he supported Maxine Waters’ call to confront the police.
This news originally appeared in Daily Wire.
