President Joe Biden recently met with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot after an extremely violent Fourth of July holiday weekend that resulted in over 100 people shot and 19 killed. It was the city’s most violent weekend this year and the Mayor has been under increasing pressure to take action. The Mayor told President Biden she is doing everything she can to stop crime in the city, but that’s a lot to say coming from a Democrat who continues to defund the police.
President Biden was set to speak at the McHenry County College, an Illinois community college, to talk about human infrastructure. Along the main road leading to the college, there were supporters of former President Donald Trump waving flags that read “Trump Won” and “Make America Proud Again.”
Biden used his speech to talk about how they will “reimagine what our economy and our future could be” and talked about the themes of family, happiness, and light through his American Families Plan. The proposal includes ensuring all 3- and 4-year-olds have access to free preschool, an increase in the child tax credit, and providing colleges with funds to support “wraparound supports.”
Biden made no mention of the city’s increasing violence and didn’t even bring up the Chicago police officer and two ATF officials who were shot on the Southwest Side just hours before he landed. He stuck to his “happy” theme by touting the changes he would make to healthcare and promote part of his “Build Back Better” agenda.
Biden even dismissed a question regarding GOP opposition, saying Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell “loves our programs” and has bragged about them back home in Kentucky. Last week, McConnell had warned Biden and other Democrats they are in for “a hell of a fight” over the passage of the plan.
But White House press secretary Jen Psaki tried to defend Biden’s commitment to talking about human infrastructure instead of the rising crime. She said he’d brought up the shootings “privately” with Mayor Lightfoot and has expressed his personal support for the two ATF officials and Chicago officer shot earlier in the day. Lightfoot’s office did not issue any statements regarding the mayor’s conversation with the president.
“He reiterated his commitment to working with the mayor and leaders in Chicago in the fight against gun violence and conveyed that the Department of Justice would soon be in touch about the strike force announced just a few weeks ago that will be working with cities like Chicago,” Psaki said.
But even Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez has called out Chicago’s violent policies, saying Lightfoot has put “the entire city under siege” and enabled criminals. He explained on Fox News how the crime in their city is worse than those of border towns.
Actor James Woods also blasted Biden and Lightfoot for the surge in crimes. “Criminals will always have guns and will always use them with little regard for the lives of innocents. The only way to end crime is to wage war on gangs in America. As long as Democrats continue to defund the police, America’s streets will run with blood,” he tweeted.
Lightfoot campaigned for mayor as a public safety expert and vowed to do everything she could to “stem the violence” but residents are growing restless. As long as Lightfoot continues to defund the police, allow people to commit crimes without risk of arrest, and push ineffective gun control measures, she’ll never get crime under control in the city.
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