“Defund the police” has been a rallying cry among protest movements for years, but lately voters have been hearing it more and more from a new source: Republicans.
That’s because, as campaigns for the 2022 midterms elections ramp up and as major cities in the U.S. face an increase in violent crime, Republicans are eager to pin “defund the police” on Democrats — whether they actually have come out in support of removing funding for police departments or not.
And that may prove to be good politics for Republicans: A national survey taken in March, by market research firm Ipsos and USA Today, found that only 18 percent of respondents supported “the movement known as ‘defund the police.’” And a recent MinnPost/Change Research poll asking Minnesota voters about whether they support a ballot amendment that would replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a Department of Public Safety, 29 percent of respondents supported the change, but 58 percent were opposed — with 49 percent strongly opposed.
Even though defunding the police isn’t a policy Congress is likely to take up in this session or the next — police budgets are set at the local level — Republicans are already using the issue to hammer Democrats, and forcing those in competitive districts, like Rep. Angie Craig in Minnesota’s Second, to take strong stands against the policy.
Republicans embrace ‘defund’
An example of just such an attack against Craig came in a March 2021 press release from the National Republican Campaign Committee, the campaign arm of U.S. House Republicans (which is currently chaired by Minnesota Sixth District Rep. Tom Emmer). The release is headlined “Angie Craig stands with the Defund the Police movement” and was based on a party line vote (every Democrat voted against it) on an amendment to the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act that would explicitly condemn “defund the police.” Craig is one of the NRCC’s top priorities to unseat in the 2022 election.
But one doesn’t have to look far to find Republicans eagerly talking about “defund the police.” The Republican Study Committee, a conservative caucus of House Republicans, released a video in July featuring a series of comments from progressive House Democrats calling for defunding the police and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Though the video focused on statements from members of the “Squad,” a progressive group of lawmakers including Rep. Ilhan Omar, Republican leaders have latched onto the strategy as a way to oust Democrats from their majority in Congress.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California tweeted in June: “The ‘Defund the Police’ campaign — endorsed by Democrats — has decimated our law enforcement. … When Republicans are in the majority, we will FUND the police.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who with McCarthy’s help ousted Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming as Republican Conference chair, tweeted in June: “Dems’ manta [sic] ‘Defund the Police’ was one of their top policy messaging points in 2020.… GOP has always supported increasing funding for police!”
That rhetoric is not limited to national Republicans, either. “Defund” ended up being a major point of contention at the Minnesota Legislature last summer — even though there were no proposals being considered that would actually remove funding from police departments.
Democrats respond
Lost, perhaps, in all the Republican claims about “defund the police” is that mainstream Democrats have never really embraced defunding police departments. President Joe Biden rejected the idea during his 2020 campaign, even as he supported calls for reforms to address excessive force and racial inequities in policing. After major American cities saw an over 30% increase in homicides in 2020, Biden announced a new anti-crime plan that includes using federal funding to support police officers.
During a marathon amendment process in August, Senate Republicans attempted to embarrass Democrats on the issue. Democratic Sen. Cory Booker sarcastically thanked them for a political “gift.”
“Finally, once and for all, we can put to bed the scurrilous accusations that somebody in this great esteemed body would want to defund the police,” Booker said.
Craig has also responded to Republican claims that she supports defunding the police. In late August, Craig, whose district covers Eagan and southern St. Paul suburbs in addition to more rural areas like Zumbrota and Plainview — and notably does not include the city of Minneapolis — issued a statement opposing the ballot question in Minneapolis to replace the police department there with a department of public safety.
(It is worth noting that the amendment itself does not remove funding for police officers in Minneapolis, but in creating the new department of public safety and removing certain requirements around police staffing and funding from the city charter, the City Council and mayor would have more flexibility on deciding future funding for police and other public safety measures.)
In the statement, Craig said, “There is much shared consensus around many police reforms across our communities and much work to do before all of our communities feel safe for everyone. However, I am strongly opposed to the Minneapolis Ballot Initiative, which I believe would jeopardize public safety and diminish accountability.
“Given the gravity of this situation and the implications that it could have on our great state and region, I feel a responsibility to speak out against this initiative, which would create confusion and uncertainty around public safety in the largest city in our state – while potentially undermining the safety and security of our communities.”
Not all Democrats oppose
Complicating matters for moderate Democrats like Craig who would, perhaps, rather not be talking about “defund the police,” is that not all Democrats are opposed to reconsidering police funding. Exactly one week after Craig issued her statement opposing the Minneapolis ballot question, Rep. Ilhan Omar, who represents Minnesota’s Fifth District that includes Minneapolis and is from the city, wrote an op-ed in the Star Tribune supporting the change.
Omar wrote, “[t]he truth is the current system hasn’t been serving our city for a long time.”
“Right now, we expect the MPD to respond to all types of emergencies, from mental health crises, to domestic abuse, sexual abuse, and simple noise complaints and traffic stops,” Omar wrote. “But the department simply is not equipped to deal with all these issues, which can lead to escalating tensions and even violence at the hands of police.”
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison joined Omar in publicly stating his support for the amendment, tweeting, “as a resident of Mpls where George Floyd’s murder sparked a national call for real reform, I will vote Yes for greater public safety & more human rights for all.”
Of course Republicans love defund the police. Its political gold for them, and they don’t even have to lie about prominent Democrats supporting it.
If Minneapolis passes the charter amendment, Republicans will control the entire state next year.
Do our Democratic Senators, our Governor, Democratic leaders in the Minnesota or US House or Senate or the current Presidential administration support defunding the police. No, that was proposed by a number of Minneapolis City Council members. In fact, police budgets in Minneapolis increased. Republicans don’t like to deal with real issues like climate change, the pandemic or gun violence. In fact, their policies make these problems far worse. They live full time in the land of pretend turning up the hate and fear dials yo make their support feel like victims.
If the charter amendment passes, Minnesota Republicans might be able to capitalize, but a national issue without similar changes around the country? No way!
Keith Ellison and Ilhan Omar support it. And while I realize Ellison is almost certainly going to lose next year and Omar is a Republican tool, they are DFlers. As are most of the Minneapolis council members who support this.
If it passes, that’s all the Republicans will need to run on in 2022. Every kid that gets show, every act of violence, every crime that occurs, will be blamed on the DFL.
Many Republicans cannot accept that Democrats would agree with them on any issues. They believe if they are against something that the Democrats are for it, regardless of evidence. Joe Biden wrote the 1994 crime bill. Tim Walz called out the National Guard to end the Minneapolis riots. Neither of them have a policy position or voting history that comes close to resembling “Defund the Police”. There has been no money removed from any local police budgets. Republicans (like McCarthy in the article) are saying that just TALKING about the issue of police funding has caused an increase in crime, which is ludicrous to the point of absurdity.
I fully expect to see doctored images of Tim Walz throwing molotov cocktails at buildings in campaign flyers next fall. People will believe it happened because they want to believe it happened. This despite the arrests of multiple right wing provocateurs.
Walz called out the guard after Frey begged for help well after the riot was out of control. He also referred to the guard members as 19 year old cooks. To be fair, he seems to have learned from this enormous screw up.
And you want to believe it was only right wingers.
There definitely were right wing Boogalos destroying Minneapolis. There were also political anarchists and arsonists who just like to set stuff on fire. There were no Democrats setting buildings on fire. That is, however, what I hear from Republicans, that the Democrats intentionally set Minneapolis on fire. People believe this despite all the evidence to the contrary because feelings and prejudices are always more important than evidence.
They don’t need to doctor images of Walz. They can can just accurately quote Ilhan Omar. They can just accurately report what the Minneapolis city council says and does. They can accurately report that the DFL attorney general Keith Ellison supports defunding the police. These people are doing the Republicans jobs for them.
“We need to completely dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department. Because here’s the thing, there’s a cancer. The Minneapolis Police Department is rotten to the root, and so when we dismantle it, we get rid of that cancer, and we allow for something beautiful to rise, and that reimagining allows us to figure out what public safety looks like for us.” – Ilhan Omar 5/25/2020
“We need to completely dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department.”
– Ilhan Omar, D-MN
Makes for a nice bumper sticker.
I have to agree with Dennis. Omar is a Republican electing machine. Those quotes are just poison.
Funny thing how Omar the republican electing machine keeps winning elections.
While the “defund the police” slogan is easy to demonize, the Republicans also need to watch their backs. By backing the police unquestioningly, they’re supporting the systemic racism in MPD, and the police brutality commited, condoned and covered-up by that department. Why do Republicans accept the ongoing police killings of civilians? It’s a problem that needs to be solved. “Defund the police” may be the wrong answer; but, as usual, the Republicans haven’t proposed an alternative.
There is nothing funny about it. No Democratic congressional candidate in the entire country had a bigger dropoff in votes from Biden than Omar did. She was literally the worst Democratic congressional candidate in America from an electoral standpoint. Unlike candidates in competitive districts, Omar’s district is so blue that she can lose tens of thousands of votes and still win comfortably.
The millions of dollars raised by her Republican opponent wasn’t spent against her. It was funneled to competitive races. They don’t care or even want to defeat her. Omar is a Republican fund-raiser. Omar is a Republican asset.
The Republicans don’t need an alternative to defund the police. The idea is so destructive and so toxic, there is no need to bother. Republican candidates don’t need to lie about Democrats. They can just accurately quote Ilhan Omar. Her very blue district isn’t even being contested. Omar is a Republican electing machine in swing and red districts.
I think Republicans are only pouncing on part of the story. Democrats also want to install leftist DA’s across the country that don’t want to prosecute criminals. I shudder to think who will replace Freeman in Hennepin. Add that to judges that release dangerous career criminals who go on to decapitate women in broad daylight and you have quite the problem.
You aren’t wrong.
I notice you aren’t refuting my point. If Democrats let Soros-backed groups install prosecutors who refuse to prosecute in large metro areas they will become unlivable to law abiding citizens of every race and economic group.
What is your backing data? I considered responding to your original, but it seems to be a nade-up strawman.
Well, he’s the one funding these races in the name of “criminal justice reform.” Millions of dollars to the Justice and Safety PAC to fund DA races across the country. Just because MSNBC doesn’t report it doesn’t mean it’s not real.
Because critical thinking and discussions are hard. The endless slogans from both sides is exhausting. Meanwhile those who do the real work are singing the old ‘Stuck in the Middle With You’ song, with clowns to either side.
Why.?? Because Democratic run cities (including Mpls) all across the USA have had a crime wave hit them like a tornado (do we still call them tornadoes). Everybody sees it, even if it is not reported by MSM. Much like Afghanistan withdrawal disaster, crime waves fall on those in charge. Lightfoot’s Chicago has had 3,100 folks shot or wounded so far this year, you actually think defunding police is the answer? Two items, lawlessness and destruction of the city, get voters out in droves. Both parties know this and are acting accordingly.
Violent crime rose 3% in 2020 (according to this BBC article https://www.bbc.com/news/57581270) but is just over half of what it was in 1990. If Democrats get the blame for the 3% increase in the past year then they get all the credit for the massive decrease in violent crime since 1990.
Minneapolis has a crime rate of 59 out of 1,000 residents, one of the highest in the country. Homicides up from 48 to 82 up 70% in 2020, shootings up from 269 to 551, up 105% and car jackings up from 101 to 405, over 300% increase. Those are the statistics from 2019 to 2020, you decide if that is a crime wave.
Violent crime went up in the last two years compared to the previous 10 (but not compared to the previous 50). There are many causes to the increase, mostly related to economic pressures. I can guarantee that TALKING about defunding the police, something that hasn’t actually happened in any city in Minnesota, wasn’t the cause of the increase in crime.
So, the current policing situation in Minneapolis isn’t working – after all crime rates are skyrocketing. Why do you want to double down on the ineffective status quo? What is your solution? We all know more of the same isn’t going to work.
The answer is you can’t solve crime with law enforcement. Law enforcement is what happens AFTER the crime is already committed. The way to reduce crime rates is with employment and education. Modifications to the public safety infrastructure will matter to the effectiveness of law enforcement but it won’t affect crime.
Minneapolis is down a lot of cops the last couple of years, so there is at least a correlation between fewer cops and increased crime.
And while the current policing system is very flawed, this alternative is totally misguided. But if it passes, the backlash will be so bad the Republicans will take over this state and swing things the other direction. A year and a half from now it will be legal to drive your car into protesters.
Running on the Crime wave is no doubt a winner for the Republicans, why wouldn’t they?
Elsewhere MN Post links to an article that digs into some of the misinformation around policing & crime rates. It’s a worthwhile read for those interested in those issues.
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2021/09/01/police-say-demoralized-officers-are-quitting-in-droves-labor-data-says-no
Great article. I thought I should highlight this quote “The Biden Administration recently announced that cities can use part of the $350 billion American Rescue Plan relief money to hire more officers to combat gun violence.”
For those paying attention, that’s the opposite of “defund the police”.
Good luck hiring those officers in cities with anti-police city councils and citizenry. Ask places like Austin and Seattle how that’s going to work. It’s the local governments that are the major problem. But that won’t help the State and Federal Democrats from paying the price.
But it’s worthless if Democrats don’t run on that, and hammer it home day after day after day.
But don’t count on that happening. Dems rarely counterpunch effectively.
It is the opposite. And that doesn’t matter at all because you have prominent DFLers saying defund the police. The Republicans don’r even have to lie. They just have to accurately quote Ilhan Omar.
The defund the police movement is the biggest self-own the Democrats have ever had. Its an absolute gift to Republicans. Oh sure, you can have people read an article correcting the misconceptions. But good luck overcoming the damage people like Omar are doing.
It’s an article filled with selective data. The “journalists” use 2019-2020 nationwide data. One of the authors even says in a radio interview that officers are transferring from cities to suburbs. Just because the nationwide numbers haven’t changed drastically does not mean the large, crime-ridden cities (which is where they are most needed) aren’t short of help. Unfortunately those are also the cities with Soros backed District Attorneys who won’t prosecute “low level” crimes.
I’m still waiting for any details on “Soros backed District Attorneys…” and Soros-installed prosecutors…and my check from him. Because all Dems are paid operatives for Soros, so I’ve heard…