WASHINGTON — As Republicans intensify their attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris for her remarks about the “defund the police” movement, they remain committed to defending Donald Trump, a convicted felon who literally salutes the violent rioters who beat police officers. police on January 6th. 2021.
“Ironic, isn’t it?” said a member of the Republican National Committee who spoke on condition of anonymity, noting that Trump also called for “defunding” federal law enforcement. “He wants to dismantle the FBI.”
Harris, a former prosecutor and later attorney general of California, never accepted calls to “defund” entire police departments, but said she supported “reimagining” how much money was devoted to police versus social services in crime-ridden communities. . On June 9, 2020, she said in a interview just days after the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police that “this whole movement is rightly trying to say that we need to look at these budgets and find out if they reflect the right priorities”.
O blow-the former president in attempt and his allies worked to to spread these remarks to make her appear soft on crime – although Trump has promised to pardon all those prosecuted for their actions on January 6, including those who attacked police officers with flag poles, sticks, a baseball bat, spray pepper and even the cops’ own Tasers.
“Trump has overseen the largest annual increase in the homicide rate in more than a century, has proposed defunding law enforcement in every one of his budgets, and wants to pardon the criminals who violently attacked police officers on January 6,” campaign spokesperson of Harris. Ammar Moussa said. “A Donald Trump presidency means more shootings, more deaths and more criminals like him with easy access to guns.”
Trump began the practice of standing at attention to January 6 protesters at his March 2023 rally in Waco, Texas. It has since become a feature of his rallies: a recording of incarcerated protesters singing the national anthem, interspersed with Trump’s reading of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Trump campaign officials did not respond to HuffPost’s questions about whether Trump is rethinking his promise to pardon the rioters or the way he honors them at his rallies.
At the end of last year, the former president had been indicted by federal prosecutors in Washington, DC, and state prosecutors in Georgia, for actions related to the annulment of the election he lost; by federal prosecutors in Florida for refusing to turn over secret documents he had taken to his Palm Beach country club upon leaving the White House; and by New York prosecutors for falsifying business records to hide a secret payment to a porn star in the days before the 2016 campaign.
He has since been convicted of 34 criminal charges in the New York case, while the judge’s decision to dismiss the documents case is under appeal. The 14 criminal charges in Atlanta and the four charges in Washington are still awaiting trial.
“But he still leads despite all of this,” said David Kochel, an Iowa Republican consultant who did not support Trump. “The normal rules don’t apply to Donald Trump.”
Other anti-Trump Republicans are not convinced that Trump’s attacks on Harris on law enforcement issues will work.
“You saw what she said about the Gaza protesters this week,” said Fergus Cullen, former state chairman of the Republican Party in New Hampshire, referring to Harris’ statement condemning the pro-Hamas protesters. “She might just go back to her ‘back in the black’ days as a prosecutor and attorney general. The same issue that hurt her in the 2020 primaries helps her now in the general election. And the Democratic base will give him permission to campaign as more centrist.”
Former New Hampshire Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Horn said she is no longer surprised by what her former party will do and say in service of Trump.
“The Republican Party doesn’t know how to campaign against her. She is a smart, accomplished, courageous woman — all the things Republican leaders hate in women,” Horn said.
