House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sought to distance Democrats from calls to “defund the police,” insisting Sunday it is not the party’s position even though rising progressive star Rep. Cori Bush refuses to drop it.
“With all the respect in the world for Cori Bush, that is not the position of the Democratic Party,” Ms. Pelosi said on ABC’s “This Week.” “Community safety, to protect and defend in every way, is our oath of office.”
Top Democrats have sought to squelch the “defund the police” narrative pushed by party progressives ahead of November’s midterm elections as Republicans blame leftist policies and anti-police activism for soaring homicide rates in major U.S. cities.
Ms. Bush, Missouri Democrat, told reporters last week that she won’t stop using the slogan, according to Axios. It puts her at odds with Democrats such as first-term Rep. Ritchie Torres, who said Feb. 1 on MSNBC that the “defund the police movement is dead in New York City.”
“We’re all concerned about mistreatment of people and that’s why [Rep.] Karen Bass had the Justice in Policing Act, and we would hope to get some of that done, whether it’s no knock or chokeholds or some of those issues,” said Ms. Pelosi. “But make no mistake, community safety is our responsibility.”
“I quote one of my colleagues from New York, Ritchie Torres, a brand new member of Congress, way on the left, saying ‘defund the police is dead.’ That causes concern with a few in our caucus, but public safety is our responsibility,” the House speaker said.
Multiple Democrats defended or embraced the “defund the police” movement in its heyday during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, although the party has since executed an about-face in the face of public pushback.
A member of the left-wing “Squad” of young, left-wing House Democrats, Ms. Bush came under criticism last year for reportedly spending $70,000 on private security even as she called for cutting law-enforcement funding.
.@SpeakerPelosi says “defund the police” is “not the position of the Democratic Party” as lawmakers remains split over how to address crime.
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) February 13, 2022
“Community safety, to protect and defend in every way, is our oath of office.” https://t.co/sGomlyuTgq pic.twitter.com/ju7ebDFLnL
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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