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MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart mocked concerns about crime in Washington, D.C., while discussing President Donald Trump’s decision to send federal troops to the capital, on his Sunday morning show, “The Weekend.”
Trump deployed 800 National Guard troops to D.C. this past week to support other federal law enforcement agencies patrolling the streets and attempting to quell violence in the city. The White House said Saturday that the operation had already resulted in more than 240 arrests, 25 homeless encampments cleared and 38 guns taken off the streets.
Top Democrats across the country have pushed back on the crime crackdown, citing statistics purportedly showing violent crime is at a 30-year-low.
While discussing the federal takeover, Capehart expressed how frustrated he was to hear people describing D.C. as unsafe.
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“You know what concerns me about this?” he asked co-host Eugene Daniels and The Independent columnist Ahmed Baba. “In the last few days, since the president has said ‘I’m going to send troops in, I’m sending troops in,’ I’ve been overhearing in restaurants, people just sort of talk about this. And the way they talk about it sends a shiver down my spine.”
“‘Oh, Washington. I mean the crime is just so— I mean I don’t feel comfortable at all,’” Capehart said, mimicking conversations he overheard.
“And I don’t say anything,” he continued. “I don’t leap across the table and say, ‘I’m sorry, sir, ma’am. I live in that city.’ But to me, it just sounds like if the president were to go that extra step and invoke the Insurrection Act, that there are going to be quite a few people who are going to be down with it. They’ll be fine with it.”
“Because they believe his lies about crime in D.C.,” Daniels agreed, before acknowledging that “things” do “happen” in the city.
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“Right. It ain’t Mayberry!” Capehart agreed, likely referring to the fictional, idyllic town in “The Andy Griffith Show.”
“Correct,” Daniels continued. “At the end of the day, things do happen, but it is not at the levels Donald Trump is talking about, and most importantly, there’s a billion dollars that Congress is still holding that D.C. wants and that is supposed to be given to them. They have not gotten it and the mayor of D.C. has been very clear about what she wants that billion dollars for and some of that is safety in the city.”
Several Republican governors also announced Saturday that they were sending National Guard troops to assist Trump’s operation, NBC reported.
During a press conference Monday, Trump warned that other major U.S. cities with reputations for crime could be next.
“You look at Chicago, how bad it is. You look at Los Angeles, how bad it is,” Trump said. “We have other cities that are very bad. New York has a problem. And then you have, of course, Baltimore and Oakland. We don’t even mention that anymore — they’re so far gone. … We’re not going to lose our cities over this, and this will go further.”
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Other journalists have ridiculed the Trump administration’s efforts to clean up crime in the nation’s capital.
CNN host Abby Phillip mockingly compared Trump to Batman while criticizing the federal takeover of D.C.’s police force during a segment on her Monday night show.
“Donald Trump makes himself Batman and the nation’s capital is Gotham City,” she said, adding, “The President of the United States has declared himself crime-fighter-in-chief, and he’s taking over Washington’s police force.”
But MSNBC host Joe Scarborough claimed on Wednesday that some D.C. journalists are secretly cheering Trump’s efforts.
“So many people have been calling me over the past couple days, going, ‘You know, like, Washington should have gotten involved years ago. This place is dangerous, it’s a mess, it’s a wreck and whatever,’ and then they’ll go on Twitter and go, ‘This is the worst outrage out of all time,’” Scarborough said on “Morning Joe.”
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