Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) claimed President Donald Trump‘s deployment of the National Guard is meant to distract the nation, listing the Epstein files as one of the factors contributing to Trump’s decision.
Trump directed his attention to crime in the District of Columbia last week, federalizing the local police and activating the National Guard. The move placed the Metropolitan Police Department, and its staff of nearly 4,000 employees, under the control of Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Murphy, however, said Trump had ulterior motives in targeting crime, calling the president’s move a “stunt.”
“Donald Trump didn’t like the fact that the walls were closing in on him, that his own base was questioning why he wouldn’t release the Epstein files, why he was protecting very powerful people. He didn’t want to talk anymore about the fact that our healthcare system is about to collapse because of the cuts that they have made, that premiums will go up by 75% on Americans, and so true to form, he just decided to create a new news cycle,” Murphy said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press.
“Nothing different is happening in the U.S. capital today. Crime will continue to go down whether or not there are U.S. troops here, National Guard troops here. He’s just trying to distract from the stories he doesn’t want Americans to be talking about,” Murphy said.
Murphy also called for the Democratic Party to take crime seriously, and claimed work done during the Biden administration was “working” in bringing down crime rates. He added “we’ll see what happens” now that Trump is handling crime as a “distraction” over an issue that should be “legitimately addressed.”
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also said Trump’s focus on crime in Washington is meant to distract people from the Epstein files, saying last week that the president is “mixed up” in them.
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The Washington Examiner reported on Friday that one-third of the arrests in Washington this past week were immigration-related. The arrest tally has since risen to over 300, including 68 just last night, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Sunday.
On the other side of the aisle, former Vice President Mike Pence praised Trump’s deployment of the National Guard, saying he “fully” supports it.