Ilhan Omar: Defunding Police ‘Isn’t for the President’ to Speak About — ‘This Is a Municipality Issue’

Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) said the calls to defund the police is not a concern of President Donald Trump because it is a state issue.

Host Jake Tapper asked, “So there are a lot of Democrats, as you know, who disagree with what you’re talking about. I just spoke with house majority whip Jim Clyburn who has come out in opposition to the defund movement. He’s talked about the need to reform. But he said defunding could, quote, hijack the movement. In addition, Joe Biden has said he does not support defunding the police. And, in fact, he’s proposing $300 million more for community policing. what’s your response?”

Omar said, “Well, it sounds ludicrous to me to have, you know, people pour out into the streets asking for the system to be transformed and for us to say in order for that transformation to happen, we’re just going to give more money to the system without really doing any kind of systematic change. If you had a company that wasn’t producing, you wouldn’t just pour more money into it so that it would produce. You would step back and say, let’s look at what works, what doesn’t work, and how do we move forward. So I think for people who really are questioning and talking about this movement, they’re not paying attention to what the people are asking for.”

She added, “And to me, you know, this is not for members of Congress, this isn’t for the president, this is a municipality issue. This is a state-level issue. And so I happen to represent a city that is eager and ready to take on this call and deliver. And there are many other cities that are doing this. And so we do more damage when we say to these people that we don’t believe in their ability to govern their cities and serve their constituents. We do better when we say what do you need in order for you to provide for your constituents a way forward? and we’re going to be there to support you and cheer you on as you figure out how to keep everyone safe.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN