POLITICO: Making Dems Defend the Indefensible on Crime Is a ‘Ploy’

When Democrats do something wrong, the story is always that Republicans are “seizing” or “pouncing,” as if the criticism is unfair or simply a political ploy to take power away from our rightful rulers. 

It’s just a fact of life. Pravda exists to harm Republicans and put Democrats in power, so they have to distract from the fact that Democrats are ruining things. 

I wrote a few days ago about how the Democratic establishment–not Democrat politicians or activists, but the people whose job it is to win elections–see Trump’s moves on fighting crime as a “trap.”

💡The moment when MSNBC’s Chris Matthews and Mika Brzezinski finally realize Democrats have been duped by Trump into defending violent crime in DC:

“It’s a trap!” pic.twitter.com/J3AlvIKGHA

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) August 13, 2025

It’s only a trap if you do the wrong thing. Democrats saw an opportunity to do something wrong and couldn’t resist. It’s like a robber complaining that an unattended computer at the coffee shop was an invitation to steal, so it’s wrong to arrest him. 

Only thiefs think that way. 

Raskin: Trump has created a resistance to “monarchy and police domination” in DC.

“The freedom loving people of Washington are not going to put up with that.”

LOL. They are resisting King Trump so hard that the mayor just skipped town to Martha’s Vineyard. pic.twitter.com/IKa5pnujJF

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) August 15, 2025

It is true that Democrats have grabbed the computer and tried to run, but it isn’t Trump’s fault that they can’t resist defending crime and criminals. 

That’s not how POLITICO sees the battle over crime. To them, it is a “ploy” because Trump knows Democrats love crime and criminals, and he is unfairly using that fact to score political points. 

Great @politico column by @rachaelmbade . @KarlRove and I don’t always agree, but on the politics of crime, we sure do !https://t.co/dCzdvd4E6O

— dan turrentine (@danturrentine) August 26, 2025

No doubt that Trump is getting political mileage out of the fact that Democrats are just fine with crime, but that’s because Democrats are fine with crime, and nobody else is. If cleaning up the streets is a political issue, it’s only because the Democrats, not Republicans, are forcing us to live with it. 

The president in recent days is leaning even further into using the National Guard as a glorified police force, visiting the troops and allowing them to be armed. He’s suggested he’s eyeing Chicago and New York next for their next deployment. On Sunday, he needled Maryland Gov. Wes Moore for Baltimore’s notorious crime statistics, hinting he could send troops there as well.

It’s a sign that despite polling showing how unpopular Trump’s moves are in Washington, the president is playing to a national audience — and betting this is a battle he and the GOP can win. If his recent escalation was an attempt to goad Democrats into declaring that crime isn’t a problem, repelling swing voters in the process, top Democrats did not disappoint him.

Over the weekend, Democratic Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Kathy Hochul of New York released statements arguing that crime in their cities was down or that there’s no “emergency” requiring the National Guard. Other Democrats have glossed over voters’ concerns about public safety, deriding Trump as an “authoritarian.”

The problem is that while some voters might not like overtly political power grabs, history shows they dislike feeling unsafe even more. Expanding homeless encampments and drug overdoses in plain view have left many of them fearful.

Gee, I wonder why? Maybe because having your city turn into a drug-infested crime magnet is scary and totally unnecessary? 

I don’t know. Maybe? Pritzker and every other Democrat may see that is progress, but most people sure don’t. 

A White House official said Trump is giddy about the prospect of “forcing the Democrats to defend the indefensible.” Nobody wants to walk outside and have to worry about getting mugged or carjacked, the person argued. Democrats will have to “either side with Donald Trump, or side with crime and murder.”

“To the president, this is basic, common-sense shit,” the official said.

Going back to Richard Nixon, Republicans’ tough-on-crime messaging has long won them favor with American voters. Their advantage has continued in recent years.

In 2022, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) changed the trajectory of his struggling reelection campaign by attacking his Democratic opponent for supporting ending cash bail and decreasing police funding. Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes responded by accusing Johnson of being a hypocrite given his support for Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. It didn’t work.

That was followed by the nationwide backlash against progressive district attorneys, mayors and other local leaders who eased up on prosecutions and embraced decriminalization experiments inspired by the George Floyd protests in 2020. Even in liberal cities such as Portland, San Francisco and Chicago, Democratic voters rejected criminal justice overhauls and elected officials they felt would be tougher on crime.

Earlier this month, CNN’s data guru Harry Enten dug into polling on crime and declared that Trump is “like Air Jordan towering over [former President] Joe Biden” on crime issues. While Biden was underwater on crime by 26 points in 2024, Trump had a plus-one favorability on the matter in August, just before his National Guard moves.“Americans are far more hawkish on crime than a lot of Democrats want to admit,” Enten said.

What Trump is doing is only a problem for Democrats because they are on the wrong side of this issue, not because Trump has baited them into something they aren’t inclined to do.” This is the party that decriminalized shoplifting, created homeless encampments, and hands out drug paraphernalia.  It declared riots to be the “Summer of Love,” and they see Trump cleaning up their mess as a “trap?”

“Dear Trump,

I hate you so much that even the possibility of you saving me from being victimized by a carjacker is repulsive.

I am a virtue-signaling masochist.

PS: No, I’m not thinking about other people being prevented from victimization. I’m the main character.” pic.twitter.com/m8mRcR79H9

— Adam B. Coleman, Proud Father & Imperfect Man (@wrong_speak) August 23, 2025

Yeah, well, you guys can build a sewer and live in it. Most of us don’t like the smell. 

I shouldn’t be surprised that POLITICO’s spin is solely on the politics of the issue, since politics is its bread and butter. But I can’t get past the framing that this issue is a purely political one, and ignoring all voters who aren’t in the political class is a huge mistake. 

Washington, DC goes 12 straight days without a murder following Trump’s capital crime crackdown — breaking pre-COVID record https://t.co/KbRnoo3Nhl pic.twitter.com/Gh1WmIUzrc

— New York Post (@nypost) August 25, 2025

You know who likes Trump’s focus on crime? People who suffer from it every day. It may be the case that the swankier parts of D.C. are less crime-ridden than the poorer areas–although they are still far too dangerous–but if you look at where the National Guard is deployed, it is often in black neighborhoods where most of the victims of crime live. 

Armed carjacker in D.C. says that he’s been released from jail SIX TIMES

“I’ve been out of D.C. jail six times for the same one… They release me. It’s the same thing every f***king time.”

THIS is why Trump decided to crack down on crime. Democrats let criminals run loose in… pic.twitter.com/AnqTxL8cXs

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 26, 2025

And they LOVE that Trump is cleaning up the streets. 

They aren’t buying the “threat to democracy” BS. They are loving that they can walk again without fear of getting murdered, or drive without getting carjacked. 

• Editor’s Note: The days of lawlessness in Washington, D.C. are over. Thanks to President Trump, our nation’s capital will be SAFE once again.

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