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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was slammed on social media Monday after she dismissed President Trump’s efforts to combat crime in Washington, D.C. as “unhinged” with other top Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, receiving similar pushback.
“As you listen to an unhinged Trump try to justify deploying the National Guard in DC, here’s reality,” Clinton posted on X on Monday, along with a DOJ press release from early January of this year, in conjunction with Trump’s press conference announcing the federalization of the nation’s capital to combat crime. “Violent crime in DC is at a 30-year low.”
Clinton’s post immediately drew pushback from conservatives on social media, including from inside the White House, with many making the case that crime in Washington, D.C. has gotten out of control.
“On top of being a big-time loser, you’re also a massive liar,” White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson posted on X along with an article headline about a D.C. police commander being suspended for allegedly altering crime data.
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“If Hillary Clinton thinks DC is safe, she should go move to Anacostia or Navy Yard,” conservative communicator Steve Guest posted on X.
Jeffries posted a similar reaction to Clinton on social media saying, “Violent crime in Washington, D.C. is at a thirty-year low. Donald Trump has no basis to take over the local police department. And zero credibility on the issue of law and order. Get lost.”
Conservatives on social media ripped Jeffries as well.
“A selection of headlines in our nation’s capital this month,” NRCC deputy executive director Jack Pandol posted on X along with several news headlines of recent violent crime in DC.
“Why do Democrats always take up for thugs, violent criminals, and illegals over law abiding citizens?”
“Democrats are lining up to oppose crime being lower in DC,” Outkick founder Clay Travis posted on X. “It’s bonkers.”
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“Democrats like Jeffries would rather preserve dangerous cities than admit their policies fail,” GOP Congressman William Timmons posted on X.
“IN FACT, murder is the most violent and accurately measured crime, and the D.C. murder rate in 2024 was 83% higher than in 2012,” the social media account for the nonprofit research institute Just Facts posted on X.
“Jeffries’ stat is deceitful because it ignores the FBI’s warning against “making any direct comparison” of its crime data over time given that “changes in police procedures, shifting attitudes toward crime and police, and other societal changes can affect the extent to which people report and law enforcement agencies record crime.”
Trump said in the Monday press conference that he is federalizing the D.C. police department to curb spiraling violence.
“The murder rate in Washington today is higher than that of Bogota, Colombia, Mexico City, some of the places that you hear about as being the worst places on Earth, much higher,” Trump said Monday. “This is much higher. The number of car thefts has doubled over the past five years, and the number of carjackings has more than tripled. Murders in 2023 reached the highest rate, probably ever. They say 25 years, but they don’t know what that means because it just goes back 25 years can’t be worse.”
Trump whipped out charts showing the media that the nation’s capital allegedly suffers worse crime trends than other cities worldwide, calling on them to “take a look at numbers” as he rattled off the data’s findings.
“Look at these. Baghdad is… we doubled up on Baghdad. Panama City, Brasilia, San Jose, Costa Rica, Bogota, Colombia. Heavy drugs. Mexico City, I mentioned Lima, Peru, all double and triple what they are. So do you want to live in places like that? I don’t think so. I don’t think so. And I think the people in this room, if you wrote correctly, you’d see. Look at the kind of numbers we have. D.C. 41 per 100,000 (for homicides in 2023). No. 1 that we can find anywhere in the world. Other cities are pretty bad, but they’re not as bad as that. That the way you want to live? The reporters of the world? Juvenile offenders and crimes against persons as they say, it’s getting worse, not getting better. It’s getting worse,” he continued.
The nation’s capital in the following years has been rocked by shootings that have left innocent children shot and dead, a trend of juveniles committing carjackings that have turned deadly in some cases, shoplifting crimes and attacks on government employees, summer interns and others, including the fatal shooting of 21-year-old congressional intern, Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, in June.
Trump’s opponents have cited crime statistics showing crime in Washington is on the decline. Violent crime is down 26% this year, in comparison to the same timeframe in 2024, according to Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department. Likewise, assaults with a dangerous weapon are down 20%, and homicides are down by 12%.
“This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back,” he said. “We’re taking it back under the authority vested in me as the president of the United States. I’m officially invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. You know what that is. And placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control. … In addition, I’m deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order and public safety in Washington, DC. And they’re going to be allowed to do their job properly.”
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