At least three members of the far-Left “Squad” on Tuesday night sat in their seats when President Joe Biden promised to fund the police and denounced the radical “defund the police” movement that once seemed mainstream in the Democratic Party.
“The American Rescue Plan provided $350 billion that cities, states and counties can use to hire more police, invest in more proven strategies,” Biden said Tuesday night, according to POLITICO.
“Proven strategies like community violence interruption, trusted messengers working the cycle of violence and trauma and giving young people hope,” he continued. “We should all agree: The answer is not to defund the police. The answer is to FUND the police with the resources and training they need to protect our communities.”
He then talked about stopping “gun trafficking.”
“And I will keep doing everything in my power to crack down on gun trafficking and ghost guns you can buy online and make at home — they have no serial numbers and can’t be traced,” Biden.
Washington Examiner reporter Emily Brooks said Left-wing Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Cori Bush (D-MO) stayed seated during the Biden comments, while most other Democrats stood up and cheered. Bush even reportedly shouted during that section of the speech.
“AOC, Ilhan Omar, Cori Bush and some others do not stand for line about $350B to fund police in American Rescue Plan,” Brooks reported. “Cori Bush also does not stand for line about ‘the answer is not to defund the police.’ Shouts something and points to her shirt….”
AOC, Ilhan Omar, Cori Bush and some others do not stand for line about $350B to fund police in American Rescue Plan. Cori Bush also does not stand for line about “the answer is not to defund the police.” shouts something and points to her shirt…. https://t.co/fCLisFHeqn
— Emily Brooks (@emilybrooksnews) March 2, 2022
Bush on Twitter commented on her shirt, which read, “18,000.”
“My State of the Union fit. 18,000. That’s how many people whose clemency petitions are sitting in a backlog, waiting for [POTUS]‘s review,” the Democrat posted. “Justice delayed is justice denied. President Biden, we’re urging you: start granting clemency now.”
My State of the Union fit.
18,000. That's how many people whose clemency petitions are sitting in a backlog, waiting for @POTUS's review.
Justice delayed is justice denied. President Biden, we’re urging you: start granting clemency now. pic.twitter.com/ruRsQykPqJ
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) March 2, 2022
Back in June, AOC “doubled down on her support for defunding the police during a video event this week and claimed that concern over exploding crime rates across the U.S. was ‘hysteria,'” The Daily Wire reported:
“The F.B.I. does not release full statistics until September, but homicide rates in large cities were up more than 30 percent on average last year, and up another 24 percent for the beginning of this year,” The New York Times reported, later adding that “in the aftermath [of George Floyd’s death], some criminologists attributed the spike in homicides to hesitancy among residents to turn to the police for help.”
… “We are seeing these headlines about percentage increases,” she claimed. “Now, I want to say that any amount of harm is unacceptable and too much. But I also want to make sure that this hysteria, you know, that this doesn’t drive a hysteria and that we look at these numbers in context so that we can make responsible decisions about what to allocate in that context.”
WATCH: Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls the concerns over the spike in crime "hysteria" pic.twitter.com/MMZ2dlAhpM
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 25, 2021