‘Start Talking About It’: Former Biden Admin Official Demands Dems Not ‘Gloss Over’ Crime

Former President Joe Biden White House press office adviser Yemisi Egbewole on Tuesday pushed Democrats to discuss crime as President Donald Trump cracks down on the issue.

Vera Action direction Insha Rahman told the Democratic National Committee summer meeting on Monday, “Don’t take the bait in talking about migrant crime or carjackings or the things that actually don’t matter to that many Americans.” Egbewole, on “The Story with Martha MacCallum,” disagreed with the speaker, saying crime is a significant issue to many Americans and that they will vote based on it in upcoming elections.

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“We were completely underwater during the Biden administration when it came to confidence in how we handled crime,” Egbewole said. “And a lot of that comes from not addressing it. I disagree with the woman who spoke at that DNC meeting when she said, ‘Don’t take the bait.’”

CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten said on Aug. 14 that Trump was above water on crime with a +1 point net approval rating, which stood twenty-seven points above Biden’s approval rating in 2024, citing his aggregate data.

“The fact of the matter is, we’re listening to a lot of Democrats in deep blue cities, and while they may want to gloss over this issue, there are people who live all across the nation that we’re going to need come 2026, come 2028, that desperately care about crime,” Egbewole added.

“Not only that, we’re doing very poor fundraising. We’re at $13 million given to the $84 million,” she continued. “What does that say? It means that voters don’t have confidence enough to even give us that money to support our candidates. The fact of the matter is crime does matter and we have to start talking about it.”

Trump deployed the National Guard and federally took over Washington, D.C. on Aug. 11 to “reestablish law, order and public safety” in the nation’s capital. He also deployed the National Guard in June to clamp down on riots that erupted in Los Angeles, California, over the raids conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the region.

Many Democrats have criticized Trump for his actions to combat crime in the nation’s capital. However, a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll published on Monday found that 54% of registered voters believed Trump’s crime-fighting efforts in the nation’s capital were “justified and necessary.”

Moreover, Trump announced on Friday that he would consider deploying the National Guard to Chicago, calling the city a “mess.” However, both Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Democratic Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson pushed back against the president’s concerns during a Monday press conference.

Both leaders sought to downplay crime in Chicago, but the murder rate is still higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to ABC7 Chicago.

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