MSNBC Morning Joe anchor Joe Scarborough expressed frustration Wednesday that Democrats who privately hold concerns about Washington, D.C., crime are simultaneously speaking out against President Donald Trump’s move to federalize the Metropolitan Police Department and mobilize the district’s National Guard.
Scarborough said he thinks crime has been a problem in the district since he first moved to it 32 years ago.
“So many people have been calling me over the past couple of days, going, ‘You know, Washington should have gotten involved years ago. This place is dangerous, it’s a mess, it’s a wreck,’ and whatever. and then they’ll go on Twitter and go, ‘This is the worst outrage of all time,’” he said Wednesday on Morning Joe.
He said he believes that people “need to address their concerns about Donald Trump going too far,” but that the crime situation is not as rosy as some district officials, crime statistics, and Democrats make it out to be.
Several district officials, such as Attorney General Brian Schwalb and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), the district’s sole representative in Congress, have spoken out against the federal takeover, citing low crime statistics.
“The Administration’s actions are unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful. There is no crime emergency in the District of Columbia,” Schwalb said on X.
“Crime in D.C. reached a 30-year low in 2024 and is down 26% this year compared to the same time period last year. The administration is justifying the decision by misleadingly citing years-old statistics,” Norton said in a statement on Monday.
However, Scarborough said he doesn’t buy it.
“We saw what happened back in 2020 with the National Guard. Certainly can’t have any repeat of that, and don’t want the federalization of the entire city. But, man, I don’t care what the crime statistics say. Crime has been a problem in this city for the 32 years I’ve been living inside and outside of the city,” he said.
TRUMP’S DC POLICE TAKEOVER PUTS DEMOCRATS ON DEFENSE ON CRIME
Scarborough directly juxtaposed how he said his friends feel walking through the district versus how he feels walking through New York City.
“Even now, Mika and I were talking to someone who lives in the city — these are all Democrats — who said, ‘Our friends won’t walk more than three blocks in D.C. at night.’ Complete opposite of New York City, where I’ll walk 40, 50 blocks at night and not think twice about it,” Scarborough said.
