Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy challenged White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s attempt to attribute surges in violence and crime in cities, primarily led by Democratic officials and district attorneys, to Republicans.
Doocy initiated the discussion by mentioning the recent carjacking incident involving three armed suspects who targeted Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar in Washington, D.C.’s Navy Yard neighborhood. Jean-Pierre credited President Joe Biden for approving legislation to increase police funding and accused Republicans of not supporting these efforts. She noted that Republicans opposed measures like the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act, citing their high costs and alignment with left-wing Democratic priorities as reasons for their opposition.
“Well, my first follow-up would be, how are you gonna blame Republicans for this? Isn’t D.C. run by a bunch of Democrats?” Doocy asked.
“I’m gonna speak to what the president has done,” Jean-Pierre replied. “The president has been very, very straightforward about what he has done to make sure communities are safe. The American Rescue Plan, not one Republican in Congress voted for it. Not one.
“There were billions of dollars in that plan, in that act, to make sure communities across the country got funding so they can indeed hire more police officers so that they can keep their communities safe. Republicans had nothing to do with that. They were not involved in that. They decided not to vote on the American Rescue Plan. That’s just a fact,” she added.
“So if President Biden’s policies are helping bring crime down, would he be comfortable with somebody borrowing his Corvette and parking it on the street overnight in Southeast D.C.?” Doocy asked.
“I’m not gonna get into hypotheticals. I’m just gonna get into the facts about what this president has done in this presidency,” KJP responded.
Doocy responded by asking if members of Congress aren’t even safe on D.C. streets, who is — to which she responded that the White House is “grateful” that Cuellar was not harmed.
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The Daily Caller added:
Three assailants allegedly carjacked Cuellar at gunpoint as he attempted to park his vehicle at his residence Monday night. Cuellar told reporters Tuesday he had to “keep calm” in the situation and allowed the armed perpetrators to take the car.
The Metropolitan Police Department and Capitol Police recovered the vehicle and all of his other belongings, including his phone and sushi, within about two hours, Cuellar told reporters.
