In response to Democrats’ claims that Republicans are the ones trying to defund the police, House Republicans posted a video montage of Democrats calling to do just that.
“Democrats support Defunding the Police. Pass it on,” House Republicans commented on Twitter, introducing the video of prominent Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Mn.) calling to defund the nation’s police forces.
Democrats support Defunding the Police.
— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) June 29, 2021
Pass it on. pic.twitter.com/lR5p7iHMP2
In a Fox News Channel interview on Sunday, a senior advisor to President Joe Biden, Cedric Richmond, accused Republicans of defunding the police because they didn’t vote for Democrats’ American Rescue Plan stimulus bill. Then, on Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki defended the accusation when challenged by Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy.
Doocy started with the Defund the Police movement, calling out comments from senior adviser Cedric Richmond that said Republicans had defunded the police by not supporting the stimulus boondoggle that masqueraded as coronavirus relief.
“But how is it that that is an argument to be made when the President never mentioned needing money for police to stop a crime wave when he was selling the American Rescue Plan,” wondered Doocy.
Incredibly, Psaki doubled down on the spin, saying that Republicans do indeed not support keeping police “on the beat in communities across the country” because they refused to vote for “the American Rescue Plan” and its “funding” to “help ensure local cops” kept their jobs.