The American left has been duped by President Donald Trump into defending violent crime, according to MSNBC’s Chris Matthews and Mika Brzezinski.
Trump this week initiated a federal takeover of the Washington, D.C., police department.
He also deployed the National Guard and federal law enforcement to address what he called a crime emergency.
Democrats and much of the establishment media have pushed back on Trump’s move.
Many have pointed to statistics they claim show a decrease in murder rates to argue that the city is safe.
Matthews and Brzezinski warned that it is a losing strategy for Democrats.
“And the murder rate, you can’t keep saying violent crime is down, but the murder rate’s up,” Matthews said on “Morning Joe.” “To the average person, the murder rate is about life and death. You don’t brag about a rising murder rate.”
He continued, “And the Democrats are — I agree with you, Mika — they’re falling into the trap of defending what’s indefensible.”
💡The moment when MSNBC’s Chris Matthews and Mika Brzezinski finally realize Democrats have been duped by Trump into defending violent crime in DC:
“It’s a trap!” pic.twitter.com/J3AlvIKGHA
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) August 13, 2025
“It’s a trap,” Brzezinski responded. “Yes, it’s a trap. I mean, it’s not a winner politically to say, ‘Oh, you’re wrong, look at the data,’ because, you know, if one violent crime happens in a very heavily populated part of the city, people hear about it, and it’s visceral.
“They don’t want it, and they want to — they’ll gravitate to the person who appears to be doing something about it.”
The statistics show D.C. is far from safe. In 2023, the city recorded a homicide rate of about 40 per 100,000 residents.
The nationwide average was 5.76 murders per 100,000 people.
That 2023 rate was the highest the city had seen since the early 2000s, and was among the worst in the country.
In 2024, the rate fell to roughly 28 per 100,000 residents. But while lower than the year before, it still far outstripped the national average.
The drop also came after years of increases. In fact, the 2024 rate was 83 percent higher than in 2012.
The homicide numbers are further clouded by scandal.
In July, D.C. Police Commander Michael Pulliam was placed on paid leave after being accused of falsifying crime statistics for 2024.
The city’s police union claimed that top leadership downgraded violent crime reports to lesser offenses to make it appear that crime dropped by 25 to 28 percent in 2024.
“When our members respond to the scene of a felony offense where there is a victim reporting that a felony occurred, inevitably there will be a lieutenant or a captain that will show up on that scene and direct those members to take a report for a lesser offense,” Fraternal Order of Police Chairman Gregg Pemberton told WRC-TV.
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