Scalise Calls Vaccine Mandates a ‘Defund the Police Strategy’

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) is suggesting Democrats are attempting to use COVID-19 vaccine requirements as a “Defund the Policy strategy”‘ despite opposition to the move from the public.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Scalise said, “Don’t make any mistake about it. This is part of their defunding the police strategy.”

“When you look at some of the states where they know they want to defund the police, but they also know the public is against defunding the police. They know that if they put a vaccine mandate in place, about 20% or more of the police officers and firefighters will ultimately get fired because they’re not vaccinated,” he continued.

Finally, Scalise said, “And so it’s a de facto Defund the Police strategy.”

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The “Defund the Police” slogan gained popularity in the wake of 👤George Floyd’s death in May 2020 as protests against police brutality broke out around the country.

As Vox notes, “A three-word slogan is not a detailed policy agenda, and not everyone using the slogan agrees on the details. The basic idea, though, is less that policing budgets should be literally zeroed out than that there should be a massive restructuring of public spending priorities.”

Several cities moved to slash