Washington Post, NBC News push White House talking points that GOP, not Dems, wanted to 'defund the police'

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Media top headlines July 1

Reaction to Bill Cosby's sudden release from prison, Nikole Hannah-Jones getting tenure granted by the UNC board, and liberals rejoicing over Donald Rumsfeld's death round out today's top media headlines

The White House has been pushing the narrative this week that it has been Republicans, not Democrats, who were supportive of the "defund the police" movement, but now members of the media are echoing the same sentiment. 

Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank penned a piece on Tuesday originally titled, "Even the Squad is more pro-police than these Republicans."

"Republican leaders have developed a new strategy for ousting Democrats from their majority in Congress: Blue Lies Matter," Milbank began his column. 

Milbank suggested that despite the vocal support for police and criticism of "defund the police," GOP lawmakers aren't backing the blue, at least not as much as some prominent Democrats according to the so-called "legislative scorecard" from the National Association of Police Officers. 

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"McCarthy, Stefanik and Banks all scored 57 percent, and some of the back-benchers piling on Tuesday — Reps. Ken Buck (Colo.), Jody Hice (Ga.), Mo Brooks (Ala.) — scored a paltry 43 percent on NAPO’s pro-police scorecard," Milbank wrote. "And the Squad? Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) all scored 86 percent. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) scored 71 percent. Where it really counts, all four members of the Squad are more pro-police than their Republican critics."

"The reason is simple. Democrats, at least at the federal level, have been the ones funding the police," Milbank asserted. 

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., blasted the Post's op-ed, juxtaposing it to a June 2020 New York Times piece titled, "We Literally Mean Abolish the Police."

"The media has changed quickly from ‘defunding the police is good’ to ‘actually, Republicans want to defund the police.’ Preposterous. Republicans Back the Blue," Cotton reacted. 

On Thursday's Ruthless podcast, the conservative co-hosts tore into the Post piece, declaring Milbank as the "worst f---in' columnist in America" and a "four-alarm fire piece of s---."

"I don't think I've set agaze on who is more dishonest and ridiculous and partisan who can be employed in America," Josh Holmes said. 

"And proud to be dishonest on purpose so he can be smarmy and smug and get back-pats at the cocktail circuit," Michael Duncan agreed. "A complete horses--- columnist. I mean, this is the same guy who said that Mitch McConnell was a Russian asset." 

Comfortably Smug insisted that journalists like Milbank are "dumb enough" to run with the White House's talking points attacking Republicans for "defunding the police."

"When you have city councils run exclusively by Democrats across this country for generations who are now voting unanimously to defund the police and then to turn around and say no, it's Republicans?" Holmes later continued. "Find me one Republican. I just want one. Just- Psaki, Milbank, the rest of you a--h---s, come up with a single Republican anywhere in the country who has suggested that you defund the police. Just one. That's all I ask."

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NBC News ran a report on Thursday similarly taking aim at House Republicans who voted against the COVID relief bill that included funding for local law enforcement. 

"House Republicans who opposed the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill continue to see the benefits in their communities, and Democrats want to remind voters they are getting federal aid despite — and not because of — their elected officials," NBC political reporter Allan Smith wrote. "As part of that effort, Democrats are highlighting communities in at least 10 districts represented by House Republicans considering or utilizing funds from the American Rescue Plan — specifically its $350 billion pot of money to help cash-strapped state and local governments — to bolster police departments. Without the money, Democrats argue, those departments would suffer."

Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, lambasted NBC's report on social media. 

"Wow, NBC running cover for the Democrat lie of the century. Shocker," Crenshaw tweeted. "I wonder if the hack journalist writing this piece knows police are locally funded, which is why Democrat mayors and city councils were able to *actually* defund police across the country."

Last year, following the death of George Floyd, the "defund the police" movement picked up steam among high-profile Democrats, including members of the "Squad."

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However, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, insisted on Wednesday during a press briefing that "actions speak louder than words," pointing to GOP lawmakers' opposition to the American Rescue Plan, which was billed as COVID relief and not funding for police to combat crime going into the summer.