Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is pushing back against comments former President Donald Trump made suggesting he plans to take over the D.C. government should he win the upcoming 2024 elections.
The Republican presidential candidate’s remarks come on the heels of the fatal shooting of former administration official – Michael Gill, who was killed during a string of crimes across the city last week.
“People are coming here and they’re getting shot. They come here for an evening – ‘I want to see the Lincoln Memorial. I want to see something. I want to see something so beautiful. I want to look at the Capitol building. I want to look at the White House.’ And they go home in a casket,” he said to a sea of reporters.
He continued: “We have to make our capitol safe, and we have to make it clean and respected and beautiful, and that’s part of my plan. And we’re gonna run it through the federal government, and it’s gonna be run very tough and very smart and very safe.”
He further went on to lament about the increasingly high crime rates sweeping through major cities across the country, including Chicago and New York, which he said were all Democratic-run cities.
“It’s a crime fest right now, and we can’t have that,” Trump said, adding that if he could, he’d consider deploying the National Guard in the nation’s capital and take complete control of the district’s government.
“The federal government must take over D.C,” he posted on his social media network, Truth Social.
On Monday, Mayor Bowser responded to his remarks, stating “I think it’s kinda disgusting to use this person’s death in that way, and we won’t engage in it.”
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson chimed in as well.
“I think we’ve all figured out by now, that there’s a lot of bluster that comes from the former president. That doesn’t mean that it’s of no concern. I don’t really want to dignify his comments with a response. Nonetheless, we are able to pass our budgets on time,” he said. “[…] Our finances are among the strongest in the country […] We are running a very, very good government.”
Trump’s remarks come shortly before the D.C. Council took its vote on sweeping crime legislation. The vote was initially approved and will aim to reduce homicides, carjackings and other violent crimes.
This all comes as the D.C. Council is expected to take its first vote on sweeping crime legislation on Tuesday morning.
On Monday, Council member Brooke Pinto released an updated version of the crime bill that has changes to some of the more controversial provisions. Mendelson told reporters the changes address concerns over the loosening of restrictions on neck holds, police chases and the implementation of drug-free zones.
