Tipsheet
Premium

Despite Biden's SOTU Claims, Democrats Are Still the Party of Defunding Police

President Joe Biden tried to show support for law enforcement in his State of the Union address Tuesday night and give the impression that he and the Democratic Party want to fund police as cities across the country experience an increase in violent crime.

"So let's not abandon our streets. Or choose between safety and equal justice...Let's come together to protect our communities, restore trust, and hold law enforcement accountable," Biden said on Tuesday.

"We should all agree: The answer is not to defund the police. The answer is to fund the police with the resources and training they need to protect our communities. I ask Democrats and Republicans alike: Pass my budget and keep our neighborhoods safe," he continued before going on to advocate for more gun control laws.

But only Americans who spent the last few years living under a rock would be able to find this believable. As Townhall covered throughout the unrest of 2020, Biden's proclaimed support for the police on behalf of his party is contradicted by how Democrats and the media reacted to the death of George Floyd in 2020 by advocating to defund police departments, only to realize most people don't want unsafe neighborhoods. 

Biden's party has since tried to backtrack and make it seem as if Democrats didn't attempt to divert money away from police departments across the nation in a knee-jerk reaction aimed at appeasing BLM rioters, but the president's attempt to rewrite his party's past and present doesn't fly. 

Make no mistake, despite what Biden said on Tuesday, the "defund the police" movement is alive and well within the Democratic Party, with two prominent examples occurring on Tuesday. The first came from Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO): 

Keep in mind that Bush sees no problem having private security for herself while demanding average Americans have fewer law enforcement resources. 

The second came from former Austin City Councilman Greg Casar, who won the Democratic primary for Texas' 35th congressional district. Casar had authored legislation that reduced funding to police in Austin by a third in 2020, according to The Independent. And because the 35th district includes Austin, Casar is almost guaranteed to win in the upcoming midterms.

Even with police departments getting their funding back as officials realize the error of defunding law enforcement, the other issue is leftist district attorneys releasing people suspected of serious crimes with little to no bail, resulting in hardened criminals being able to commit more crimes. But Biden made no attempt to call out those practices during his State of the Union address.