The View: GOP ‘Defunding the Police,’ ‘The Real Problem’ With Gun Crime

Thursday was just another day in the reverse reality that the coven of ABC’s The View occupies as they lashed out Republicans with false accusations that they were the ones “defunding the police” in (heavily Demcoratic) cities around the country, and they were “the real problem” with rising gun violence in cities.

Joy Behar (co-host) noted at the beginning of the show that President Biden had met with Eric Adams, New York City Mayor (D), on Tuesday to talk about unchecked firearm violence in New York City. But Behar was several months behind, asking the panel if now was the time for Democrats “to start speaking up more about fighting crime? What do the Democrats do in this case would you say?”

It was not possible to talk about that before 2021, when Adams was elected on his promise to combat crime.

Behar also defended Democrats by suggesting Democrats have been “Calling for reform in the police force” rather than “Annull the police” (aka defund the police).

So-called “conservative” co-host Tara Setmayer agreed with Behar that Democrats were just trying to pass reforms and Republicans were pouncing on bad “messaging,” and blamed Fox News (click “expand”):

I was very vocal last year about it, even during the 2020 election. They were getting a boost of adrenaline from the entire defunding the police movement at a time where Trump’s campaign was still on life support. However, it doesn’t matter if that is true, or not. Politicians need to communicate clearly.

Republicans are now jumping on this, so it has been difficult for Democrats to climb out from that messaging hole.Because Republicans excel at repetition, and they also have Fox News and other outlets to raise it.

“And so Democrats really need to thread this needle carefully because Republicans will make a mockery of this.” the Lincoln Project grifter whined.

Ignoring the fact that New York City had defunded their police department by $1 billion in 2020, co-host Sunny Hostin asserted “it’s not about funding” but rather the supposed “The unrestricted gun access in this country.” She also ignored that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has taken a soft-on-crime approach, even letting people with weapons charges walk, and how the widow of a slain officer blamed him for her husband’s murder.

Asides from the lie about the ability for a law-abiding citizen to obtain a gun was “unfettered,” since background checks exist and some states have wait periods, Hostin tried to make it about racism (via stop and frisk, which Adams supports and wasn’t mentioned) and suggested Republicans were defunding police departments:

We need to get right down to it. The root cause is that Republicans defund the police.. They refused to adopt legislation to support the police. The bill was passed by the Biden administration at a cost of $350 billion, with no Republican voting for it.

They may deny it, but the real reason the Defund the Police movement became so popular against Democrats is that they created it. It was a rallying cry of Black Lives Matter 2020 in late 2018. NBC Nightly NewsI was stunned to discover that Vermont’s liberal Burlington had defunded its police, resulting in an increase in crime and residents feeling unsafe.

ABC watched in horror as officers from Oakland, California lost $17million to their budget last year.

Behar was also horrified at the amount of legal guns in American law-abiding citizens’ possession. Hostin, she, and Behar joined hands to denigrate those Americans. They claimed that the guns they had were illegally obtained were the cause of violence.

BEHAR: There are 400 million guns in America. Only 330million people live in the United States.

HOSTIN: That’s right.

SETMAYER: Right.

BEHAR: Of the 400,000,000 guns, 393,000,000 are civilian owned.

HOSTIN: That’s right.

BEHAR: Police don’t own all guns. All these people are scattered all around the city.

HOSTIN: These illegal weapons will cause the police to be killed.

“Why aren’t Republicans talking about gun control? They do not talk about root causes. Their only concern is gun crime and the Democratic problem. They’re the problem,” Hostin sneered.

This was possible thanks to lucrative sponsorships by CarShield or Angi. The following links provide their contact information.

Click “expand to see the transcript”

ABC’s World News Tonight
February 3, 2022
Eastern, 11:02:04

JOY BEAR: There’s widespread concern regarding the increasing crime rate, according to polls. Today President Biden travels to New York City to talk to Eric Adams. To honor the fallen officers, thousands of police officers lined 5th Avenue.

So, here’s the question: Do Democrats who’ve been calling for police reform — not to cancel the police, but just to reform it, do they need to start speaking up more about fighting crime? How would you describe the Democrats’ response in this instance?

TARA SETMAYER (Well, this is something I was very vocal about even during last year’s 2020 election. The Trump campaign had been on life support at the time, so they got an injection of adrenaline from the defund the police movement. However, it didn’t matter if that was the truth, because the messaging was horrible and words are important in politics.

Republicans have followed suit and Democrats have struggled to get out of this messaging hole. Republicans can repeat the same message repeatedly over and over, with Fox News and other media outlets elevating it.

It’s evident that Democratic strategists recognize this as 13 of the last thirteen seats were lost by Democrats in 2018. Now they have lost seats when they were expecting to gain them in 2020. This was partly due to swing districts where the idea of defunding law enforcement was a problem.

So, you have these swing districts for people like Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, in these not necessarily urban area but the swing districts in the suburbs which Democrats need, saying like, “guys, we can’t do this. We have to be careful with what we’re saying because crime” and whether it’s real or not, but statistics are showing it is real and not just in urban areas, “but people feel as though in their own backyards, we have to pay attention to it.”

Biden is coming to New York City and I believe we are all aware of the tragedy that’s unfolding here with the murder of police officers, as well as this increase in violence towards police officers.

BEHAR: Right.

SETMAYER: –that’s happening across the country—

BEHAR: Uh-huh.

SETMAYER – It’s top of the mind for most people and it shouldn’t take a tragedy to make them realize how valuable our police are.

BEHAR: Uh-huh.

SETMAYER

BEHAR: Right.

SUNNY HOOSTIN: I don’t know what to think.

BEHAR: Would you like to agree with us?

HOSTIN: I find it interesting that New York City has a police department budget of $10 billion. The actual figure was 9.9 billion for 2021. That’s more than some smaller countries GDP. Right? So, it’s not about funding, it’s not about the fact that police don’t have enough funding.

However, I think it is fascinating that conversations about rising crime and gun crime do not include unfettered firearm access in this country.

BEHAR: Right.

HOSTIN: This is because Republicans find it not politically feasible, and this is —

BEHAR: The NRA has given them an A+ rating.

HOSTIN: Exactly.

SETMAYER – Which ignites their base.

HOSTIN : But, I think it’s clear that gun ownership does not equal freedom. However, the practice of stopping and frisking people who are black or brown at high levels is acceptable. Over-policing these communities seems acceptable.

We need to get down the core problem, which is that Republicans defund the police force. They won’t pass legislation that would help police officers. The bill was passed by the Biden administration at a cost of $350 billion, with no Republican voting for it.

It’s intellectually dishonest. Tara, you are right. This messaging is crucial for Democrats.

SETMAYER: Mm-hmm.

HOSTIN (Retired): Now let’s get to the truth. This is a Republican problem.

BEHAR: Is it possible to throw in a statistic?

SARA HAINES – Yes.

BEHAR: There are 400 million guns in America. Only 330million people live in the United States.

HOSTIN: That’s right.

SETMAYER: Right.

BEHAR: Of the 400,000,000 guns, 393 million are civilian owned.

HOSTIN: That’s right.

BEHAR: Not all police officers have the right guns. All these people are scattered all around the city.

HOSTIN – These illegal firearms will cause the death of police officers. Why aren’t Republicans talk about gun control? They do not talk about root causes. Their only concern is gun crime and the Democratic problem. In my opinion, they’re the true problem.

BEHAR: And isn’t the Supreme Court poised to have more guns in New York City?

HAINES: Yes.

(…)