The Washington Post admitted Wednesday that Republicans do not support defunding the police following the White House’s claims the GOP backed such measures.
“Although Republicans all opposed Biden’s coronavirus relief package, no one voted to cut, or defund, anything,” WaPo wrote, as White House press secretary Jen Psaki claimed on June 23, when she said, “That was voted into law by Democrats just a couple of months ago. Some might say that the other party was for defunding the police; I’ll let others say that, but that’s a piece.”
WaPo added that “voting against a one-time infusion of cash is not the same as voting to cut funding, so there is little basis to claim that Republicans are trying to ‘defund the police.'”
The paper also noted Psaki was not the only member of the administration attempting to spin the message.
A senior adviser to President Joe Biden, Cedric Richmond, was mentioned in the article for his comments June 27 on Fox News, when he said, “the truth is, they [Republicans] defunded the police”:
Let’s talk about who defunded the police. When we were in Congress last year trying to pass … an emergency relief plan for cities that were cash-strapped and laying off police and firefighters, it was the Republicans who objected to it. And in fact, they didn’t get funding until the American Rescue Plan, which, our plan allowed state and local governments to replenish their police departments and do the other things that are needed. So look, Republicans are very good at staying on talking points of who says ‘defund the police,’ but the truth is, they defunded the police.
The establishment news outlet, however, did not mention all the times the Democrats have used “defund the police” rhetoric.
Breitbart News compiled the many instances of the anti-police rhetoric from the Democrats as follows:
- President Joe Biden said he supported reallocating police resources during his campaign.
- Vice President Kamala Harris said “I applaud Eric Garcetti” for defunding the Los Angeles police, and said “we have to reimagine public safety” while discussing lowering the police presence in communities.
- Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said officials must heed calls to “decrease police budgets and the scope, role, and responsibility of police in our lives.”
- As Boston’s mayor, Biden’s secretary of labor, Marty Walsh, proposed a budget to divert funding from law enforcement.
- Biden’s Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke wrote an op-ed for Newsweek in 2020 supporting efforts to “defund the police.”
- Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) called the Minneapolis City Council “very thoughtful” for voting to dismantle the police.
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and fellow House Democrats refused to criticize the Minneapolis City Council for defunding the police.
- Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) told protestors to “get more confrontational” with police.
- Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) called for dismantling the Minneapolis Police Department.
- Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) called for defunding police as a congresswoman-elect.
- A Democratic National Convention panelist advocated for defunding the police.
- A Minneapolis City Council member defended defunding the police, but said she didn’t “have all the answers” on who would respond to violent crime.
- House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) compared federal law enforcement to the Nazi Gestapo. He later ignored looting and arson in D.C., claiming the only violence he saw in the city was from police.
- Democrat Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he doesn’t want police officers to respond to rape.
- Former Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) said he supported Maxine Waters’ call to confront the police.
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