Vice President JD Vance said this week that President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to assist Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department has put Democrats in the position of defending rising violent crime in the capital.

Speaking at an event in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Vance said Democrats have increasingly opposed the administration’s law enforcement actions, even as major U.S. cities continue to struggle with crime.

“Is Milwaukee a super safe city right now? It has some crime problems. It’s a beautiful city. There are a lot of incredible, hard-working people who live there,” Vance said.

“But let’s be honest, Milwaukee has had some crime problems. Chicago … has had a lot of crime problems.”

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Vance questioned why Democratic leaders have reacted more strongly against Trump’s efforts to assist cities than to the crime itself.

“Why is it that you have mayors and governors who are angrier about Donald Trump offering to help them than they are about the fact that their own residents are being carjacked and murdered in the streets?” Vance asked. “It doesn’t make an ounce of sense.”

Vance said Trump himself had raised the point during a recent lunch with him.

“The president said, ‘JD, I don’t know how I did it? I have actually gotten the Democrats to come out in defense of crime.’ If Donald Trump came out tomorrow and said he really likes puppies, you would have AOC come out and say ‘Puppies are terrible.’”

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The Vice President pointed to Washington, D.C. as an example of how Trump’s initiative has worked.

He said that in just two weeks, federal involvement led to measurable reductions in violent crime.

“So you have Donald Trump, who has reduced murders, carjackings, and armed robberies in 14 days in Washington, DC — and now you have national Democrats coming out, saying, ‘Oh, we love murders and carjackings and armed robberies.’ Why won’t Democrats just use some common sense … on this basic principle that murdering people, armed robberies, and carjackings are bad. Wouldn’t it be nice if the Democrats just worked a little across the aisle for once?” Vance told the audience.

Not all Democrats have opposed the move.

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D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Wednesday publicly praised the administration’s surge of officers in the nation’s capital, citing steep drops in violent crime during the period.

“We greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance what [the Metropolitan Police Department] has been able to do in this city,” Bowser said.

“The difference between this … 20-day period of this federal surge and last year represents an 87% reduction in carjackings in Washington, DC … this surge has been important to us for that reason.”

Trump ordered the National Guard and federal officers to assist D.C. police earlier this summer as part of a broader initiative aimed at reducing violent crime in major cities.

Administration officials have pointed to a sharp decline in homicides, carjackings, and armed robberies in the capital since the deployment began.

The results in Washington are expected to be used by the White House as an example of what Trump and Vance say could be replicated nationwide if state and local leaders partner with federal resources.

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