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A Tennessee congressman criticized President Donald Trump’s plan to send National Guard resources to Memphis, saying Friday that as a part-time Washingtonian, the city doesn’t feel any safer after its own anti-crime operation.
“I had hoped the National Guard would not be deployed here [to Memphis],” said Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., who represents the “Home of the Blues.”
Cohen said the real way to fix the crime problem there is via better investments in “proven programs” and that the announcement appears to be the premiere of the “Trump Show 2.0” after the president previously deployed National Guard troops in Washington, D.C.
“That’s what I think this is about, and that would harm our local economy, particularly the tourist and construction industries. This is all about Trump showing the world that he’s a tough guy,” Cohen said.
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The lawmaker also claimed that, as a part-time resident during the congressional session, he has not seen any marked improvement in the District since Trump engaged the guard there earlier this year.
“D.C. has been my second home for 19 years. I have a condo and a car, and I live in the city after work, [and] not in my office. I do not perceive any change in the level of safety since Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in D.C.
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“The president recently went out to a restaurant in D.C. and said that it is now the safest town in the world, and that it is safe to walk anywhere. That’s not true.”
Cohen claimed many of the arrests made have been “low-level” offenders and that while crime in the capital is “bad,” it was already declining along with national trends.
Memphis, he said, has a checkered past with Jim Crow conflicts but is not the “troubled city” the president claimed.
“We have a crime problem. We do have problems that may be ‘endemic,’ but they are the result of centuries of racial discrimination, including slavery that separated families without educational opportunities,” he said.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson responded to Cohen in comments to Fox News Digital:
“In 2024, Memphis had the highest violent crime rate, highest property crime rate, and third-highest murder rate in the U.S. Following the President’s highly successful operation to combat violent crime in DC, which objectively drove down crime rates across the board, numerous Tennessee officials have applauded the President’s decision to address crime in Memphis next. Addressing violent crime will benefit all who live in and visit Memphis.”
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