Representative Cori Bush of Missouri continues to push defund the police policy, even as other progressive Democrats have asked her not to do so.
Democrats are getting absolutely hammered on crime and they know this issue is going to hurt them in the midterms later this year.
It’s important to point out that this Axios report from Alexi McCammond describes ‘defund the police’ as a slogan. It’s not a slogan, it’s a policy position:
Rep. Cori Bush isn’t backing down on “defund the police” sloganRep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) says she’s not going to stop using the slogan “defund the police” ahead of this fall’s midterms — even though some of her colleagues have made that request.Why it matters: Progressives — and that slogan specifically — were blamed for Democratic losses in 2020. The 2022 midterms are even more challenging, yet Bush said during an hourlong conversation with Black reporters that she’s sticking to her activist roots.
- “I always tell [fellow Democrats], ‘If you all had fixed this before I got here, I wouldn’t have to say these things,'” she said.
- Bush acknowledged her party needs to do a better job of explaining exactly what it means with its call to shift some law enforcement monies to preemptive social services.
If Democrats lose their House majority this November, Bush says she’ll blame their inability to pass crucial pieces of legislation upon which members campaigned a year ago.
- “‘Defund the police’ is not the problem,” she added. “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.”
- “If [Republicans] take the majority, it’s just done as far as trying to get the legislation across,” Bush said.
Reminder:
Cameron Jenkins of The Hill has more and like Axios, describes defund the police as a slogan:
Many of Bush’s colleagues have blamed the use of the slogan for Democratic political losses. They also fear the phrase will be used against them in the midterm elections.Bush said that if Democrats lose the House majority in November, it will be because the party failed to pass key legislation…She also said that her party members should work harder to explain the meaning behind the slogan.Defund the police is intended to divert funds from police departments and toward social services.Another reason the White House and a number of Democrats have shunned the phrase is because of rising crime in the United States, which Republicans have sought to blame on calls to defund the police.The GOP has signaled it intends to use rising crime statistics against Democrats in the coming campaign.
Let Cori Bush keep talking. She is doing Republicans a huge favor.
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