In a headline referring to members of the media as ‘useful idiots,’ New Republic Deputy Editor Jason Linkins is lambasting editors’ and writers’ misdirecting their criticism of Trump’s occupation of Washington DC as a failing crime-fighting endeavor.
“Trump is getting plumped by some in the media,” said Linkins, explaining that “The Atlantic’s Michael Powell idly handwaves the fact that D.C. brought the violent crime rate to a 30-year low in 2024 to admonish Democrats for ‘downplaying crime,’ while ‘Charles Fain Lehman, also in The Atlantic, goes to similar lengths to dismiss the actual facts to assert that ‘the reality is more complicated’ and that some ‘deliberate intervention’ … is warranted.”
“These authors and others are making a profound error from the jump,” warned Linkins, because D.C. was never about Trump’s ineffective attempt to solve crime. This is about “a fascist occupation.”
“[Trump] is inventing a crisis of crime as a pretext for further consolidating his power; this is authoritarianism 101,” said Linkins.
The District of Columbia did indeed have “a miserable year in 2023” as crime rates spiked while dropping across the country. But city officials “got busy in 2024 and reversed the trend,” said Linkins, achieving a 35 percent reduction in violent crime and 30-year low in the violent crime rate. And they did it without “goon platoons.”
And Trump’s occupation is not benign, Linkins added. “Gangs of vaguely identified pseudo-cops are brazenly beating up people in the street “like Proud Boys,” and “carrying out “a sadistic campaign against the city’s homeless population,” he said.
This is taking a toll on city business. The Trump administration recently tried to claim restaurant reservations are “up 30 percent” since the takeover, but this is a lie, said Linkins. The Washington Post reports city restaurant reservations dropping in the city by as much as 31 percent for a single day since Trump’s military takeover, and business owners are afraid the military presence his hurting business during the peak season.
“You can absolutely mark me down as extremely skeptical that Trump’s interventions are going to reduce crime in D.C.,” said Linkins. “As always, I’m prepared to be wrong. Can the same be said of the pundits who’ve criticized anyone who dares use facts to question Trump’s fearmongering on crime?”
Read the full New Republic report at this link.