House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Sunday that "defund the police" is not a position held by the Democratic Party after progressive Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) recently reiterated her support for the controversial slogan.
Asked by host George Stephanopoulos during an interview on ABC's "This Week" about what the Democrats' response to crime should be, Pelosi said she disagrees with Bush's statement that calling for police to be defunded.
"Well, with all the respect in the world for Cori Bush, that is not the position of the Democratic Party. Community safety, to protect and defend in every way, is our oath of office. And I have sympathy, I'm — we're all concerned about mistreatment of people," Pelosi said before highlighting the Democrat-backed police reform bill, the Justice in Policing Act.
Pelosi expressed that there is room for police reform, like making changes to no-knock warrants and chokeholds, but that "community safety is our responsibility."
"Make no mistake, community safety is our responsibility," Pelosi said. "And I quote one of my colleagues from New York, Ritchie Torres, a brand new member of Congress, way on the left, saying that 'Defund the Police is dead.' That causes a concern with a few in our caucus, but public safety is our responsibility."
.@SpeakerPelosi says “defund the police” is “not the position of the Democratic Party" as lawmakers remains split over how to address crime.
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) February 13, 2022
“Community safety, to protect and defend in every way, is our oath of office.” https://t.co/sGomlyuTgq pic.twitter.com/ju7ebDFLnL
The Speaker's comments come after Bush said in an interview with Axios last week that "'defund the police' is not the problem."
"We dangled the carrot in front of people's faces and said we can get it done and that Democrats deliver, when we haven’t totally delivered," she said.
The congresswoman also said that she has had colleagues tell her that "defund the police" is not helpful in their districts.
And in August, Bush said told CBS News that "defunding the police has to happen" despite the fact that she has spent tens of thousands of dollars on private security.