Conservative served with fact check after defending Trump's 'life-or-death issue'
A conservative commentator was served with a fact-check after defending President Donald Trump's decision to send National Guard troops into Democratic-led cities.
Rob Bluey, executive editor of The Heritage Foundation's website The Daily Signal, told "CNN This Morning" that Trump was justified in deploying troops to aid local law enforcement in patrolling the streets, and he claimed the president's move was politically popular.
"I think the American people understand that crime, and Donald Trump has tapped into this in recent weeks, is a, you know, life-and-death issue," Bluey said.
Host Audie Cornish pointed out that Trump was sending troops from red states into cities in blue states, which she felt was "creating unnecessarily a divisive feeling," but Bluey insisted that Democratic governors supported the deployments.
"Gavin Newsom, good example of this," Bluey said. "You didn't play the clip, Audie, but he also announced yesterday that he's surging in areas of California where he needs to address a crime problem, so, as we've seen Gavin Newsom copy President Trump in terms of his messaging and style on Truth Social, he's also mimicking some of the policies becauseI think if you're a political leader right now and crime is perceived as a problem in big cities, yes, you need to respond to those challenges."
Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright said the conservative journalist was missing the point.
"The difference is, Rob, I don't think anyone is anti-fighting or dealing with crime," Seawright said, and Bluey asked why officials hadn't done it. "I think the difference is this president wants to put color on crime. He wants to politicize crime, i.e., picking at or nagging at cities that have high African American populations or with African American mayors, because when in times of crisis, as Donald Trump is with his poll numbers and his base, he tends to lean on a certain things – race, crime, public safety, immigration and patriotism. That's been his pattern, practice and history as an elected official, i.e., president of the United States, so here he is going back to his comfort zone."
"If Trump cared really about crime in D.C., why not meet with the mayor or other mayors around the country, come up with a solution like President [Joe] Biden did with the Safer Communities Act, which is why violent crimes are coming down in cities?" Seawright added. "But he did not do that. He did not even consult the mayor about his plan."
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