A 'gut punch': Biden’s U-turn on D.C. crime law roils statehood advocates

A Washington, D.C., statehood advocate on Monday blasted Joe Biden over the president’s reversal on the GOP-led effort to block a proposed D.C. crime law.

The D.C. Council’s proposal called for lesser sentences for some violent crimes at a time when the perception that Democrats are trying to shed the “soft on crime” tag.

Biden in his announcement on Thursday that he would not support the D.C. Council’s proposal affirmed his support for statehood.

“I support D.C. Statehood and home-rule – but I don’t support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the Mayor’s objections – such as lowering penalties for carjackings,” Biden tweeted.

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“If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did – I’ll sign it.”

Josh Burch, a co-founder of Neighbors United for D.C. Statehood, speaking to CNN”s Victor Blackwell on Monday called Biden’s decision a “betrayal,” and a “gut punch” to statehood supporters.

“Politics,” Burch said when Blackwell asked why he thought the president sided with Republicans in opposing the D.C. bill.

“Politics is about perception, and he doesn't want to be perceived as being supposedly weak on crime. I think there's been very little discussed about the substance of the crime bill. It's just more sort of catch phrases for the general public.”

Burch said he believes D.C. statehood should be a nonpartisan issue.

“… I think one of the real problems that we have in the District of Columbia is we have no elected member in congress, voting member in congress who can call us their constituents who they have to respond to,” Burch said.

“Because we're not anyone's constituent in congress, they can turn their back on us whenever they want to. That's what happened with the votes in the house, potentially the vote in the senate and with the president himself. They don't see any sort of political loss by turning their backs on the people of D.C.”

Burch said the move has caused him to sour on Biden.

“I definitely look at him in a lesser light than I did two weeks ago,” Burch said.

“I felt like he could take a strong stand and say ‘no, I support statehood. I support the right of the people in D.C. to enact their own laws and I’m going to veto this legislation.’"

“He chose not to do that and then he said he would sign it, so it still is a betrayal and a gut punch. I do question my support for the President after he turned his back on us.”

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