House Majority Whip Tom Emmer is urging Republicans to emphasize their support for President Donald Trump’s crime prevention agenda, saying that public concern over safety will play a decisive role in the 2026 midterm elections.
Emmer, the third-ranking House Republican, told the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) that law-and-order issues will dominate the political landscape and that Democrats’ support for policies viewed as soft on crime will hurt them at the ballot box.
“When one party offers you safety and security and the other one offers you more crime and chaos — which one do you think you’re going to pick when you go into the ballot box?” Emmer said.
“The answer is clear. It will be reflected big time in the midterms next year.”
He cited an August AP-NORC poll that found 81 percent of Americans — including 96 percent of Republicans and 68 percent of Democrats — consider crime a “major problem” in large cities.
The same survey showed most voters approve of Trump’s handling of crime.
Emmer’s comments followed the August 22 killing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee fatally stabbed on a Charlotte light rail train by 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr., a repeat offender with 14 prior arrests.
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Brown was out on cashless bail at the time of the attack.
Emmer said the case highlighted the risks of lenient criminal justice policies.
“Republicans are the party of safety and security and that horrific murder of the Ukrainian immigrant, Irina Zarutska, is a clear example of how these soft-on-crime policies that Democrats have been pushing over the last decade can kill people,” Emmer told the DCNF.
“They’re literally protecting criminals while leaving innocent civilians to bear the consequences,” he added.
“And it doesn’t have to be this way.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) echoed Emmer’s criticism.
“For years, radical Democrats pushed soft-on-crime policies that let violent criminals walk free, ignored the concerns of law-abiding families, and smeared Republicans for demanding law and order,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said.
“Now, after tragedies like the brutal Charlotte murder, they’re scrambling to rewrite history. The contrast couldn’t be more clear: President Trump and Republicans are restoring law and order, while Democrats make excuses and leave innocent victims to fend for themselves.”
Emmer also defended Trump’s federal crime crackdown in Washington, D.C., where the president ordered federal authorities and the National Guard to assist in policing.
A White House official told the DCNF that more than 2,100 arrests have been made since the effort began, including 20 known gang members, and that at least seven missing children have been recovered.
Democrats have downplayed the federal effort, pointing to crime statistics in the city they say show improvement.
The House Oversight Committee, however, is investigating allegations from a whistleblower that local law enforcement officials manipulated crime data to undercount incidents.
Some Democrats have criticized Trump’s actions directly, with Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) comparing the federal response to authoritarian rule in North Korea.
🚨 DCNF Reporter @AndiNapier points out the fact that crime rates have DROPPED significantly since Pres. Trump’s federal takeover of D.C. law enforcement
Reps Pete Aguilar & Ted Lieu don’t seem too happy 🤔 pic.twitter.com/EVUTd6IWnK
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 3, 2025
Emmer said Democrats’ approach to crime mirrors their earlier response to inflation under Joe Biden, which he argued voters rejected.
“These people do not learn from history,” Emmer told the DCNF.
“It’s the same darn thing … They’re saying, ‘Oh no, the statistics show that this stuff is down. Well, people have been manipulating the statistics. We know that the D.C. police did exactly that to make it look like crime was not what it is.”
Emmer noted that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed an executive order extending cooperation between the Metropolitan Police Department and federal authorities, which he said had benefited city residents.
He encouraged other Democratic governors, including Tim Walz of Minnesota, to follow suit.
“She has partnered now with President Trump, and she is benefiting, and so are the people that hired her to be the mayor of D.C.,” Emmer said.
“You don’t have to like the president,” he continued.
“But at the end of the day, you were hired to protect citizens and their property.”
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