(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
President Joe Biden didn’t earn himself any points with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party during his first State of the Union address. Not only did he ignore many of their favorite topics like climate change and immigration, he had the unmitigated gall to insist that keeping Americans safe means adequately funding law enforcement, which is an especially sore subject for anti-police leftists.
“We should all agree: The answer is not to defund the police. It’s to fund the police,” Biden intoned as lawmakers from both parties cheered. “Fund them. Fund them! Fund them with resources and training — resources and training they need to protect their communities.” Naturally, members of “The Squad” aren’t happy about Biden’s repudiation of the Defund the Police movement.
Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) tweeted her displeasure at the president’s remarks. “With all due respect, Mr. President. You didn’t mention saving Black lives once in this speech,” she wrote. “All our country has done is given more funding to police. The result? 2021 set a record for fatal police shootings. Defund the police. Invest in our communities.”
The Black Lives Matter global organization tweeted a photo of an angry-looking Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA). Professional race-baiter and activist Tariq Nasheed also chimed in on Twitter:
“Biden: said: ‘We should all agree, the answer is not to defund the police. The answer is to fund the police. Fund them. Fund them!’
This is what you BidenSexuals get for voting in exchange for catfish nuggets
#smh”
Despite the protest coming from the progressive peanut gallery, the majority of Democrats – including many who previously supported defunding the police – gave a standing ovation to Biden’s remarks. The moderate faction of the Democratic Party has been doing its level best to distance itself from their progressive colleagues’ more radical proposals. The president signed three bills into law in November that were designed to aid law enforcement, and one passed the House 434-3. The three, of course, were Squad members Reps. Bush, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).
The Justice Department is shelling out $139 million in grants to hire more than 1,000 new police officers nationwide to deal with rising crime rates. In December, the White House press secretary, in a pitiful attempt to fend off attacks about Democrats’ soft-on-crime policies, made the laughable claim that it was Republicans who were actually seeking to defund the police.
For most of the populace, the Democrats’ change in tune when it comes to law enforcement is a welcome one. This might be especially true for black Americans, who overwhelmingly indicated they wanted the same level of police activity in their neighborhoods or more, according to a Gallup poll conducted in 2020. This is not surprising considering that African Americans have been disproportionately impacted by skyrocketing crime rates.
Yet it’s also worth pointing out that the sudden change of heart might be too little, too late. The damage has already been done. Defunding police departments in a way that resulted in fewer officers on the streets has caused a devastating impact on everyday civilians. Biden and company were silent on the issue when rampant crime hammered inner cities during and after the George Floyd riots. Now, they want to make it seem as if they never supported the Defund the Police movement – but their silence spoke volumes.
~ Read more from Jeff Charles.
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