When President Donald Trump announced he was federalizing D.C., Democrats went ballistic.
After about two weeks, the experiment appears to be paying off, as crime rates have ticked down considerably.
While Democrats rage, some residents are speaking up, and the local D.C. politicians had better be paying attention.
When Trump announced the federal takeover, he was citing 2023 crime statistics to make his case, which I called him out for at the time.
There was no need to use dated stats, as even though D.C. officials claim that violent crime rates are down, they are hardly what they were 10-15 years ago.
Trump took heat for using dated numbers, but the point he was making very much landed with residents who are sick and tired of living in fear.
So far, the plan has worked, as there has been only one murder that I know of during this time, felons are being locked up, and according to most reports, the streets in tourist areas are much safer at night.
This was about more than crime for Trump, however, as he was setting a trap of sorts, just like the GOP did with transgender athletes in women’s sports.
This forced the Democratic Party to reject the notion that something needed to be done about crime, and even CNN’s Anderson Cooper realized that liberals were taking the bait.
Cooper stated, "Do you point out statistics of out of a 30-year low as they as the statistics show, and thereby sound like you’re saying, oh, there’s not a crime problem in Washington, DC? Where there’s crime problem everywhere.”
I am not sure where he got those numbers regarding a 30-year low, as the murder rate in 2010 was significantly lower than it is now. Maybe crime overall was down, but DC makes the nightly news nearly every night for a violent crime, so perception is reality.
You are clearly going to get diehard liberals who will refuse to accept the fact that something needed to be done about crime in D.C., but for some, even that only lasts so long before they see the difference.
Indu Bhatia, who runs a local liquor store, said the establishment was robbed so many times, he was going broke paying for security renovations. Bhatia stated, “All my employees, including me, we feel much more safe, and even our customers feel really happy when they walk into our store.”
While Dems rage about the presence of the National Guard, one Guard member noted, “We’ve had a lot of people saying ‘I’m glad you’re here doing what you’re doing -- a lot of fist-bumps and selfies.”
Satisfying residents and tourists is all that matters, as Democrats can continue down this rabbit hole they have been going down for years. Again, I am not a fan of federalizing the city, but so far, it appears to be working. Having said that, D.C. is a far different animal than any other city in the United States, and my opinion would be not to do this in other cities and merely offer federal help, using D.C.'s results as the example. Let Democrats explain why they are allowing crime to continue rather than accepting Trump’s assistance.
