Democratic California Rep. Ted Lieu compared President Donald Trump’s crime prevention efforts in Washington, D.C. to a brutal totalitarian regime on Wednesday morning.
Lieu, a member of House Democratic leadership, invoked North Korea when pressed by the Daily Caller News Foundation if he viewed falling crime rates in the nation’s capital as a success since President Donald Trump took control of D.C. law enforcement. Total crime in the nation’s capital has fallen by 21% since the president’s crackdown, accordingto statistics released by the D.C. Police Union on Monday.
“If you want a police state with military folks running around all over the place, well sure, that’s going to reduce crime — but that’s not the free and open society we in America want to live in,” Lieu said. “I’m sure there’s really low crime in North Korea because they have military troops all over the place.”
“The United States military is designed to fight foreign adversaries not designed to be unleashed on the American people,” Lieu added.
House Democratic Conference chair Pete Aguilar, the third-ranking House Democrat, invoked Jan. 6 when asked about falling crime in the district since Trump’s takeover of D.C. law enforcement.
“If someone was serious about public safety though, they wouldn’t pardon 1500 insurrectionists on Day One who committed crimes,” Aguilar told reporters in response to the question asked by the DCNF.
Lieu and Aguilar’s opposition to Trump’s efforts comes as the White House is touting a significant drop in violent crime in the nation’s capital over the past several weeks.
Sixteen known gang members have been arrested since the start of Trump’s D.C. crime crackdown and five missing children have been rescued, a White House official told the Daily Caller on Tuesday.
Some DC residents in crime-ridden neighborhoods have backed Trump’s crime reduction efforts despite loud opposition from Democratic lawmakers.
“I’d say, lately, nothing that much has been going on since … law enforcement been around,” D.C. resident Lavelle Thompson told the DCNF on Aug. 26 when asked about the crackdown. “Ever since Trump put out the law, [the area became] more safe for more protection, police protection.”
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has also praised aspects of Trump’s crime crackdown efforts, citing the significant decrease in carjackings since the president’s federal takeover of the district’s law enforcement began. Bowser also signed an executive order Tuesday to have DC law enforcement coordinate with federal authorities indefinitely.
An AP-NORC poll released Wednesday found that 53% of Americans favor Trump’s approach to tackling crime. Additionally, 55% of respondents said they approved of the U.S. military and National Guard troops supporting law enforcement in large cities.
House GOP Conference chair Lisa McClain told the DCNF on Wednesday that House Democrats should change their approach on crime issues and emulate Bowser who has offered support for the Trump administration’s efforts.
“I just think that shows the support for law and order,” McClain added.
A spokesperson for Lieu did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
Andi Shae Napier contributed to this report.
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