Democrat Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser is in utter denial when it comes to her crime-ridden city, asserting that President Donald Trump’s view of the nation’s capital is “shaped by his COVID-era experience during his first term” and claiming that crime has already been robustly addressed, deeming Trump’s actions “unsettling and unprecedented.”
Bowser kicked off the press conference touting the positive elements of D.C., repeatedly calling it “beautiful.”
“Washington, DC, is a beautiful city — magnificent city. We’re home to 700,000 Washingtonians. We welcome millions of visitors every year from around our nation and around the world. We have the nation’s premier park system, fantastic public schools, including a free and robust Pre-K program starting at age three. We have a tremendous public transportation system,” she bragged.
“It’s very important to me that for all who live here and visit here, just know how beautiful our city is and how proud we are of all that we’ve accomplished here,” she said, reminding listeners of the basics.
WATCH — Criminals Beware, D.C. Will Be Great Again!:
“We’re unique in other ways as well. Though we pay taxes, in fact, we pay more than most states per capita. We’re not a state. We don’t control the D.C. National Guard. We don’t have senators or full autonomy. Limited home rule gives the federal government the ability to intrude on our autonomy in many ways,” she said before delving into Trump’s move to address crime in the city.
“I’ve said before, and I’ll repeat that I believe that the President’s view of D.C. is shaped by his COVID-era experience during his first term. And it is true that those were more challenging times related to some issues. It is also true that we experienced a crime spike post COVID, but we work quickly to put laws in place and tactics that got violent offenders off our streets and gave our police officers more tools, which is why we have seen a huge decrease in crime,” she said, attempting to paint a drastically different picture than reality in the nation’s capital.
“Because of those efforts, we have been able to reverse that 2023 crime spike this year,” she said, bragging that D.C. crime is “at a 30 year violent crime low.”
She then claimed that they have not taken their foot off the gas and “continue to look for ways to make our city safer.”
“We know, however, as most have heard from the President’s press conference, that he has pride prerogatives in D.C., unlike anywhere else in the country, including his authority given by our home rule charter to require the mayor, to require me to supply services of the Metropolitan Police Department, and he also has control and the ability to deploy the National Guard,” she said.
WATCH — FAFO: National Guard Activated to Make D.C. Safe Again:
“But let me be clear, as our home rule charter is also clear … [the] President’s Executive Order restates chief Pamela Smith is the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, and its 3,100 members work under her direction, the home rule charter requires the mayor to provide the services of MPD during special conditions of an emergency, and we will follow the law, though there’s a question about the subjectivity of that declaration,” Bowser reluctantly stated.
Ultimately, Bowser said her message to residents comes down to this: “Access to our democracy is tenuous,” she said, using the press conference to briefly argue for D.C. statehood.
“That is why you have heard me and many, many Washingtonians before me advocate for full statehood for the District of Columbia. We are American citizens. Our families go to war, we pay taxes and we uphold the responsibilities of citizenship,” she said.
Bowser continued, describing Trump’s action as “unsettling and unprecedented.”
“And while this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can’t say that — given some of the rhetoric of the past — that we’re totally surprised,” she said, promising D.C. residents that she is committed to focusing on other things, such as “making sure that we have the judges that we need, including making sure that all federal parks are supported, not just with law enforcement, but with other clean and safe activities, and including making sure that our economy is supported by rational federal actions as it relates to the federal workforce.”
Her remarks follow Trump announcing Monday morning that he is invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control, and activating the National Guard to address crime in the nation’s capital.
“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people, and we’re not going to let it happen anymore,” Trump stated during the press conference.
Read the full article here