Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Trump Is Leaning in on Crime. Dems Need a Better Response

To many Washington insiders, President Trump's early August Beltway crime crackdown seemed like an opportunistic and hamhanded pivot after getting walloped for weeks over the Jeffrey Epstein affair. But if it wasn't clear then, it is now: The White House's public safety play is a deliberate ploy to refocus the narrative on an issue that favors Republicans ahead of the midterms -- one that's already backing Democrats into a corner.

Posted by lamplighter at 02:30 PM | 20 COMMENTS | permalink

Comments

More from the OpEd ...

... The president in recent days is leaning even further into using the National Guard as a glorified police force, visiting the troops and allowing them to be armed. He's suggested he's eyeing Chicago and New York next for their next deployment. On Sunday, he needled Maryland Gov. Wes Moore for Baltimore's notorious crime statistics, hinting he could send troops there as well.

It's a sign that despite polling showing how unpopular Trump's moves are in Washington, the president is playing to a national audience -- and betting this is a battle he and the GOP can win. If his recent escalation was an attempt to goad Democrats into declaring that crime isn't a problem, repelling swing voters in the process, top Democrats did not disappoint him. ...



#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-08-26 02:32 PM

Related ...

National Guard Push Used by Trump and Vance to Attack 2028 Rivals
www.military.com

... President Donald Trump said that his federal crime crackdown will sully the records of contenders for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, drawing an explicit link between his deployment of National Guard troops and boosting the Republican Party's political prospects.

Trump and Vice President JD Vance lambasted California's Gavin Newsom, Illinois' JB Pritzker and Maryland's Wes Moore on Monday as governors who are weak on crime, defending plans to possibly expand the Guard's presence from Washington, DC to cities and states run by Democrats nationwide.

"All of their potential candidates are doing a bad job," Trump told reporters on Monday.

Moore "doesn't have what it takes," Trump said, adding that he "can't imagine Pritzker even being a candidate" because "he's not temperamentally suited" and is a "slob." Newsom, the president continued, is a "disaster."

The Oval Office appearance, during which Trump signed executive orders targeting cashless bail and flag burning, offered Vance a chance to burnish his credentials as the president's successor-in-waiting by hammering home his law-and-order message. ...


#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-08-26 02:33 PM

America is too Stupid to Survive.

Sigh.

#3 | Posted by Effeteposer at 2025-08-26 03:21 PM

Why would crime favor Republicans?

It's just silly us liberals are giving up, with cashless bail, letting out prisoners. Don't those that propose this see criminals are an oppressive force?

Criminals create poverty, no one invests where there is crime.

Democrats need to come out strong on crime, and figure out a way to rehabilitate criminals into upstanding citizens. This is the way...

The idea of letting them run unchecked through the cities is terrible for the poor that live there.

#4 | Posted by oneironaut at 2025-08-26 03:40 PM

us liberals

You're a lying sack of crap.

#5 | Posted by Alexandrite at 2025-08-26 03:48 PM

"us liberals"

Nobody believes that. Not even you.

#6 | Posted by Danforth at 2025-08-26 04:19 PM

First, let's round up all the fake ------

#7 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2025-08-26 04:55 PM

@#6 ... Nobody believes that. ...

Now, if that current alias instead had said in that comment something along the lines of, ~not even trolls like me,~ I might have even given that comment a NW flag.

                                ;)


#8 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-08-26 07:11 PM

Going back to the topic of the thread ...

Pres Trump seems to be trouncing the Democrats in the optics of his military occupation of the US.

How will the Democrats respond?

#9 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-08-26 08:32 PM

"Pres Trump seems to be trouncing the Democrats in the optics of his military occupation of the US."

I'm not seeing that, but I live in a pretty blue area so that might explain it.

#10 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-08-26 08:34 PM

At least half this neighborhood speaks Spanish. I'd expect a good number voted for Trump, what with the work trucks and you know those aren't union jobs.

#11 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-08-26 08:35 PM


Of course, then there's this ...


President Trump Job Approval
www.realclearpolling.com

...
RCP Average 8/1 - 8/25
Approve: 46.3
Disapprove: 50.8
Spread: -4.5
...


In specific areas ...

President Trump Approval - Economy
www.realclearpolling.com/polls/approval/donald-trump/issues/economy

...
RCP Average 7/7 - 8/25
Approve: 42.6
Disapprove: 54.6
Spread: -12.0
...

President Trump Job Approval - Foreign Policy
www.realclearpolling.com

...
RCP Average 7/7 - 8/25
Approve: 43.6
Disapprove: 53.9
Spread: -9.3
...

President Trump Job Approval - Immigration
www.realclearpolling.com

...
RCP Average 7/7 - 8/25
Approve: 46.0
Disapprove: 51.3
Spread: -5.3
...


President Trump Job Approval - Inflation
www.realclearpolling.com/polls/approval/donald-trump/issues/inflation

...
RCP Average 5/30 - 8/25
Approve: 38.2
Disapprove: 59.4
Spread: -21.2
...

#12 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-08-26 08:51 PM

@#11 ... At least half this neighborhood speaks Spanish. I'd expect a good number voted for Trump ...

Republicans Are Losing Latino Voters. But Democrats Aren't Winning Them.
www.newsweek.com

#13 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-08-26 08:53 PM

It's a good start.

#14 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-08-26 09:05 PM

@#14 ... It's a good start. ...

Yeah, a good start.

But the race to the finish line is a long one.

Will the Democrats be up to the task in 2026 and beyond?


I wish I knew.

#15 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-08-26 09:27 PM

Trump is 100% against crime, unless he's inciting it, or committing it.

#16 | Posted by ClownShack at 2025-08-26 10:12 PM

But if it wasn't clear then, it is now: The White House's public safety play is a deliberate ploy to refocus the narrative on an issue that favors Republicans ahead of the midterms -- one that's already backing Democrats into a corner.

EPSTEIN WAS THE DISTRACTION!

And this isn't an election ploy, it's a consolidation of power ploy.

Jesus Christ the media is f*&^ing stupid and obtuse.

#17 | Posted by jpw at 2025-08-27 11:38 AM

The idea of letting them run unchecked through the cities is terrible for the poor that live there.

#4 | Posted by oneironaut

STFU you ---- idiot.

#18 | Posted by jpw at 2025-08-27 11:39 AM

When is the bloated rapist going to lean in on gun related carnage?

#19 | Posted by reinheitsgebot at 2025-08-27 12:44 PM

JPW

FYI - your "contributions" to discussions are sinking toward LGH level.

#20 | Posted by BellRinger at 2025-08-28 11:25 AM

Drudge Retort Headlines

Are We Losing Our Democracy? (57 comments)

Top Trump Officials Are Moving Onto Military Bases (36 comments)

More Blame GOP and Trump than Democrats for Shutdown: Poll (31 comments)

DOJ Indicts Dem Candidate for Congress for ICE Protest (15 comments)

U.S. Poised to Strike Military Targets in Venezuela (14 comments)

Mitch McConnell Slams The Heritage Foundation (13 comments)

Texas Supreme Court Rules Judges Can Refuse Same Sex Marriages (11 comments)

State Employees Fired over Kirk Posts Inundate Courts (10 comments)

Carter's Baby Clothing Brand to Slash 150 Stores Due to Tariffs (7 comments)

'Happy Halloween!': DHS Response to Report of ICE Wearing Halloween Masks (6 comments)