Is Defund the Police the Dumbest Political Move Ever?
BUCK: We just thought Heather really brought it and, you know, we do think, it’s very possible that there might be a real political price paid by the Democrats on — in two area — well, three. Actually, there’s so many —
CLAY: Everywhere, Buck!
BUCK: I kept trying to narrow it down. I’m like, I was gonna say crime, then I was gonna say, well, actually the border, then I was gonna say, well, actually the economy, then I was gonna say actually foreign policy —
CLAY: Covid.
BUCK: You go down the list. The actual question at this point would be, where would the Democrats in the election were held in, you know, the midterms were held in a few weeks, where would they not pay a political price? And, you know, I don’t know.
CLAY: I think the only thing they have, Buck — and this is what I think is gonna end up happening in the midterm — is abortion. I really — I think they’re gonna try to terrify everybody in the suburbs —
BUCK: The War on Women? Keep the suburban women —
CLAY: — their only play.
BUCK: Suburban single women are something that the Democrats look to give them advantage with all the time. But any, here’s D.C. police chief — we just want to get to this — Rob Conte blasting defund the police.
CONTE: I remember what defund looked like, right, when we didn’t have the tools that we needed. And we were the murder capital, and our police officers shot more people than anywhere else in the country right here in our nation’s capital. We were poorly trained as a department back then. So I know what defund looks like. At that time police officers were going into their pocket to put brakes on cars and tires on cars so, you know, when people say defund to me, you know, I look at it as, you know, we’re taking money away from the police department and while we may be trying to do other things, I think we have to be able to — this is — this country I believe has enough money that we can do both things and we can do both things well.
We can provide services that community members need to do better in communities, to invest in education, social work, all those things. But we also need to make sure that our police departments, our law enforcement agencies are properly funded to do the job that communities expect them to do.
BUCK: Anyone who knows about police work, Clay, says the same thing.
CLAY: It’s amazing that’s considered to be anything other than conventional wisdom. Defund the police, Buck, is the stupidest idea to gain any sort of credence with a major political party in the twenty-first century, in my opinion. I’m not even sure what else is close.
BUCK: And “walls don’t work.” That’s up there too.
