House Republicans to 'Ensure Every Voter Knows Democrats Want to Defund the Police'

Most people predicted that Democrats would gain seats in 2020 and given the state of the political climate, that prediction made sense. The media was endlessly trying to pin the COVID-19 pandemic on Trump, and a mountain of lies about Trump’s COVID-19 response likely had some impact.

But something else happened too. The death of George Floyd sparked nationwide outrage that quite often manifested itself as violent riots and looting. While the mainstream media tried to paint the protests as peaceful, it was hard to ignore the images of burning buildings and violence or the dozens of businesses destroyed or people killed in the name of George Floyd. The response from the left took many forms, and while protesters often chanted “Justice for George Floyd” and “Black lives matter” they also carried signs that read “Defund the police” and spewed rhetoric about an allegedly racist society, rotten to the core, that needed to be wiped out.

Republicans knew that this radical anti-police agenda was harmful to our society, and routinely called out the Democratic Party for supporting the “Defund the Police” movement, which was now synonymous with Black Lives Matter.

And it worked. Republicans gained seats in the House when they were expected to lose seats. And the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is continuing that messaging in order to retake the House in 2022. According to a report from the Washington Examiner, the NRCC  has “released a new slate of ads targeting Democratic Reps. Cindy Axne of Iowa, Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania, Jared Golden of Maine, and Ron Kind of Wisconsin,” and those ads are accusing those Democrat incumbents of “failing to stand up to their party’s efforts to defund the police.”

Most Democrats have avoided using language explicitly supporting defunding the police, but more radical voices in the party calling for the end of policing and the abolishing of prisons have gone without denunciation from even House Democrats representing districts won by Donald Trump.

“Defund the police? Abolish prisons? Nancy Pelosi and Democrats in Congress have lost their minds,” says a female voice in the ad. “And now they’re calling for violence. Call [Democratic representative] and tell [him/her] to stand up to Democrats attacks on law enforcement.”

“We are going to ensure every voter knows Democrats want to Defund the Police. Whether it’s Rashida Tlaib demanding an end to policing and incarceration, or Maxine Waters encouraging rioters to engage in violence, Democrats can’t be trusted to stand with law enforcement and keep Americans safe,” NRCC spokesman Michael McAdams said in a statement.