During his campaign, Donald Trump’s proposals were simple: fix our economy, close the border, and put an end to the chaos that was erupting domestically and internationally. That chaos, here at home, includes crime waves across the country that are making life a misery for countless American citizens. Not only did homicide rates spike in the aftermath of Black Lives Matter protests — making cities such as New Orleans, Memphis, St. Louis, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., feel like scenes from The Purge — but other crimes became all too common for residents, including robbery, assault, vandalism, and sexual assault.
After returning to the White House, Trump made it clear that such lawlessness would not be permitted and that he would be leveraging the National Guard to crack down on the crimes that his political opponents had enabled for decades.
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Now, it’s important to acknowledge that there are numerous valid debates here regarding crime data itself. Some argue that crime was already declining, while others point to federal probes into the cooking of crime statistics by local police that make crime data almost meaningless.
There are also debates over the legality of such a move. While Trump is permitted to mobilize the National Guard in Washington, D.C., and other federal areas (such as federal buildings), it becomes much murkier when we consider cities and districts outside of federal jurisdiction.
But as we grapple with these questions, it remains undeniable that there is a broad public perception that crime is out of control — a perception that’s confirmed by anyone who spends more than 30 seconds in the gritty heart of any American city. For anyone with a shred of honesty, it would be easy to acknowledge the existence of crime while criticizing Trump’s strategy or proposing alternative solutions.
If placing National Guard troops on every corner across America isn’t exactly your cup of tea, perhaps your local Democrat has another idea? Well, unfortunately, for the last few sane Democrats, their party’s only idea is to pretend that crime doesn’t exist at all.
“This is a safe city, but overhearing and witnessing gang threats and then watching the camera footage of the thuggery is disturbing,” one D.C. resident told the Washington Post “on the condition of anonymity over concerns of personal safety.” Sounds safe to me!
“When you walk down the streets of Georgetown, you don’t see a police officer on every corner, but you don’t feel unsafe,” said MSNBC’s Symone Sanders-Townsend as she mocked the idea that D.C. was a “dangerous place.” Yes, Georgetown, one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in D.C.
And just this week, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof donned his favorite blazer to provide a report “from the perilous front lines” of Trump’s “war-ravaged” Portland, using 20 square feet of a peaceful tree-lined street as his evidence.
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So instead of acknowledging the existence of crime, elitist journalists are cherry-picking the wealthiest (and whitest) areas of these cities as proof that any crime is an invention of Donald Trump! This is the equivalent of sitting in a coffee shop in Beverley Hills and declaring that Skid Row is perfectly safe.
In reality, the only thing that these elitists are doing is mocking the all-too-real suffering of those who cannot afford to live in, for example, Georgetown. When you are faced with the reality of city crime on a daily basis, and you are forced to choose between gaslighting journalists and a president who is at least doing something, you’re going to choose the president every single time.
Ian Haworth is a syndicated columnist. Follow him on X (@ighaworth) or Substack.