President Joe Biden recently announced new gun control measures and claimed that it is Republicans who are pushing for defunding the police. However, it is a fact that calls for defunding police departments have been primarily made by Democrats since the George Floyd riots of 2020. While some Republicans have called for abolishing the FBI, they have largely shown support for law enforcement. During the 2020 election campaign, cutting police budgets was a rallying cry for the Democrats, although Biden himself did not support the idea. Vice President Kamala Harris, on the other hand, praised then-L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti for planning to cut up to $150 million from the police budget.
While speaking at the recreation center in Monterey Park, California, Biden said:
“Congressional Republicans should pass my budget instead of calling for cuts to these services or defunding the police or abolishing the FBI, as we hear from our MAGA Republican friends.”
Republicans often bring up the FBI, Capitol Hill police, and other Federal government police forces in arguments, causing Democrats to change the subject. Republicans seek to defund organizations with political affiliations, while Democrats opt to defund local police departments that aid people in need, leaving them vulnerable to harm.
It is important to note that the funding of police departments is a local matter, and GOP governors like Florida’s Ron DeSantis or Texas’ Greg Abbott have been staunch supporters of the police. Meanwhile, activists calling for defunding the police have been visiting the White House or meeting with White House aides.
For instance, Rashad Robinson, the president of Color of Change; Carmen Rojas, the president and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation; Latosha Brown, the co-founder of Black Voters Matter; and Tylik McMillan, who serves as the “National Director of Youth [and] College” at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, have all visited the White House.
Color of Change has even pushed to “dismantle” and replace the Minneapolis Police Department. They have created a petition titled, “TAKE ACTION: Defund the police, and invest in communities now!” and in March 2022, the Marguerite Casey Foundation tweeted, “#DefundthePolice.” Brown has also been in communication with Vincent Evans, who worked for Vice President Harris’s office, and promoted a “Defund the Police 101 Teach-In” event in August 2020.
In conclusion, while some Republicans have called for abolishing the FBI, it is primarily the Democrats who have called for defunding police departments since the George Floyd riots of 2020. The funding of police departments is a local matter, and GOP governors have largely shown support for the police, while activists calling for defunding the police have been visiting the White House or meeting with White House aides.
