Biden stance on DC crime bill is ‘politics of opportunism,’ ‘no principles’: Jeremy Hunt
'Outnumbered' reacts to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats' outrage over President Biden's stance on a new Washington D.C. crime code.
President Biden is taking heat from his own party after he announced his decision not to veto a resolution to end a Washington, D.C., crime bill after they were led to believe he would protect the bill.
New York's Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter with her outrage Thursday.
"This ain't it," she tweeted. "D.C. has a right to govern itself like any other state or municipality. If the President supports D.C. statehood, he should govern like it. Plenty of places pass laws the President may disagree with. He should respect the people's gov (sic.) Of D.C. just as he does elsewhere."
The president made his stance known on the legislation during a closed-door meeting with Senate Democrats Thursday. Once news circulated, House Democrats were shocked and one even said "we are being hung out to dry."
HOUSE DEMS FEEL BETRAYED AFTER APPARENT BIDEN FLIP-FLOP ON DC CRIME BILL: ‘F------ AMATEUR HOUR’
Other representatives shared their thoughts with The Hill, in comments laced with expletives.
One told the outlet that this is "F---ING AMATEUR HOUR."
The same lawmaker claimed that the White House "f---ed this up royally." Others said Biden's decision was "disappointing."
Last November, the Washington D.C. council voted unanimously to pass the Revised Criminal Code Act which includes reduced maximum sentences, the elimination of nearly all mandatory minimum sentences, and expanded rights to jury trials by those accused of misdemeanors. Critics have said the law goes even softer on crime which is a major issue in many Democrat-run cities. After facing a veto from D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, the council overrode the veto prompting GOP lawmakers to propose a federal resolution to strike down the law.
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 02: President Joe Biden walks with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) as he arrives at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, March 2, 2023 in Washington, DC. The President is attending a closed-door Senate Democratic policy luncheon on Capitol Hill (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
In February, the House approved the resolution — which was introduced by Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga. — in a 250-173 vote which garnered both Republican and Democratic support. A companion bill introduced by Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., is expected to pass the Senate over the next week.
"Outnumbered" hosts reacted to Democrats' outrage and Biden's opposition to the soft-on-crime bill on Friday.
"[Democrats] redefine what lawlessness and thuggery is. That is their standard," OutKick's Tomi Lahren said. "But even the mayor came out and said this is a bad idea."
"The thing that the Democrats have that we sadly do not is that they will still fall in line because they understand in 2024 Americans care about crime," she added, arguing the outrage will fade. "So Biden is playing this very well. It still rings very disingenuous to me. But he is smart strategically. And we know that ‘The Squad’ and the others, they will fall in line, as Democrats always do."
Other hosts agreed with Lahren's perspective on President Biden's actions being "disingenuous."
"President Biden, if you look at his whole career, it's the politics of opportunism," Hudson Institute media fellow Jeremy Hunt said.
"President Biden does not do anything without someone telling him to do it," host Emily Compagno said. "And actually, AOC is right."
"She said, if you actually did believe in statehood, then you wouldn't actually step in here. She's right. And that's the rub. He's placating. He is placating to that super woke left faction of his party," she continued.
The hosts also noted the "timing in interesting" for the president to take such a vocal stance on a controversial, soft-on-crime bill.
"Took him six months to address violent crime after he became president," host Kayleigh McEnany said. "That shows where his priorities lie. It's election season."
"You look at some of the left and particularly on the far left, he's not going to flex to them because he needs independents and he knows it," host Harris Faulkner added, noting speculation the president will announce a bid for re-election soon. "No matter who he goes up against, whoever it turns out to be, he's going to need that."
Heading into campaign season, Biden and the Democrats have a number of problems Americans still want to be addressed, including crime. Compagno observed Biden's support of the resolution to end the D.C. crime code may be a result of "seeing the writing on the wall."
"[Biden's] also having some common sense in there because they are seeing the writing on the wall – the majority of his party – which is that they cannot stick behind these woke libs because that is killing people by the hundreds of thousands," she said.
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"So I see him as, again, just a puppet and a robot. And it's clear his comments are disingenuous."
Fox News' Gabriel Hays, Jessica Chasmar, Thomas Catenacci, Elizabeth Elkind and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
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