White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stood by claims made recently by a senior Biden adviser that it was actually the Republicans who defunded the police.
“‘Republicans defunded the police ‘by not supporting the American Rescue Plan,”
This is hysterical. Biden senior advisor Cedric Richmond says it was Republicans who actually defunded the police. 🤡
At least the administration is finally admitting to itself that their defund the police cries are toxic. pic.twitter.com/JjlNkguR1w
— Matthew RJ Brodsky (@MattRJBrodsky) June 27, 2021
“As you know, the President did allot state and local funding for the American Rescue plan didn’t receive a single Republican vote,” she added. “That funding has been used to keep cops on the beat.”
Absolutely shameless. Under questioning from Fox's Peter Doocy, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki argues it's *Republicans* who have been defunding the police and not supporting law enforcement because they didn't vote for Biden's stimulus boondoggle the American Rescue Plan. pic.twitter.com/pIwfFkonu1
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) June 28, 2021
But Doocy noted that the bill was meant to address local budget shortfalls and wasn’t aimed at stopping the rising crime that has plagued much of the country.
“I think that any local department would argue that keeping cops on the beat to keep communities safe when they had to, because of budget shortfalls, [firing] police is something that helps them address crime in their communities,” Psaki responded.
Psaki and the Biden White House is desperate to pass blame for skyrocketing crime after the Democrat Party allowed Far-Left rioters to burn down major American cities last year with little repercussions. It comes to no shock or surprise that the now Biden is attempting to blame Republican simple because they refused to support a giant funding bill paid for by already-burdened tax payers.
“We’re now providing more guidance on how they can use the $350 billion nationally that the American Rescue Plan has available to help reduce crime and address the root causes,” Biden said. “For example, cities experiencing an increase in gun violence were able to use the American Rescue Plan dollars to hire police officers needed for community policing and to pay their overtime.”
But Republicans have argued that the blame should actually be placed on Democratic-controlled cities, some of which have moved to defund or scale back funding for their police departments.
Some governors have even signed legislation to prevent local counties from defunding their police force without the governor’s approval.
Ron DeSantis signed a bill recently that did just that. The Florida legislation is aimed to punish local governments who issue massive cuts to police budgets. The Florida Republican highlights counties where police budgets have reduced, only from crime to rise in those very areas.
Author: Elizabeth Tierney
