Republican senators renewed their drive to make growing crime rates a central issue in the upcoming midterm elections.
In a news conference moderated by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (but initiated by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, due to Cruz’s unavailability), a broad coalition of Republican senators attacked the Biden administration’s soft stance on crime.
US:"I know you have to have prosecutorial discretion, but you shouldn't be stupid enough to tell people ahead of time what crimes you're going to convict or not convict, because when you tell that you tell the criminal elements of America go ahead and steal."
Sen. Chuck Grassley pic.twitter.com/BxroPAA32d— World News 24 (@DailyWorld24) February 9, 2022
Statistics from the CDC
As per data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the homicide rate in the United States increased 30% between 2019 and 2020, when former President Trump was in office.
According to a Pew Research Center examination of the statistics, it was the greatest rise in a single year since 1905.
However, murders rose somewhat slower in 2021, President Biden’s first year. Homicides increased by 5% last year, according to a new examination of crime patterns by the Council on Criminal Justice’s Violent Crime Working Group.
Conversely, at least 12 major cities in the United States set new annual homicide peaks in 2021, including Philadelphia, which saw its highest murder rate since 1990.
Republican senators blamed the crime on measures implemented by Democrat officials in blue cities, while others singled out San Francisco and Philadelphia district attorneys.
Two senators cited criminality in the immediate neighborhood of the Russell Senate Office Building, where the news conference was held, as an indicator of the Washington trend.
Daines stated one of his senior staff members was recently violently attacked while walking only a few blocks to work.
Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma mentioned damage at the neighboring Union Station. Last month, authorities apprehended an illegal alien on suspicion of spray painting swastikas on the structure.
Blaming the Crime Wave on Inanimate Objects
Democrats have contended the spike results from a failure to combat gun violence.
The White House announced a new initiative to combat these crimes, including an order to all United States attorneys’ offices to “boost resources allocated to district-specific violent crime methods.”
“Of course, it’s easy to criticize,” Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy conceded, “but the question is what Republicans provide as an alternative.”
Cassidy urged local prosecutors to abandon “catch and release” tactics for people convicted of gun crimes instead of “blaming the gun.”
It is unknown if crime will motivate people to the polls in November; although estimates vary on the influence of criminality at the polls. According to FiveThirtyEight, crime no longer provides a clear benefit to any political party.
Why crime likely won’t be an issue in the 2022 midterms: https://t.co/gkvCtKVyn7 via @FiveThirtyEight
— ABC News (@ABC) November 29, 2021
Economic problems are presently among voters’ top priorities. According to a November 2021 Quinnipiac University survey, only 1% of respondents rank economic problems as not their primary issue.
Nevertheless, 76 percent of respondents to a December CNN/SSRS survey felt the federal government is not doing enough to combat growing crime rates. Joe Biden has consistently earned bad grades on his public safety record.
