Democratic Missouri Rep. Cori Bush claimed that she needs private security because of a “racist narrative” driven by her political opponents, but that politicians should “suck it up because defunding the police has to happen.”
Bush’s campaign spent nearly $70,000 on private security from April to June, almost double what her campaign spent on security during the first quarter of 2021. She defended those expenditures during a Wednesday appearance on CBS News, claiming that they are necessary because of death threats she has received.
“They would rather I die. You would rather me die? Is that what you want to see? You want to see me die? Because that could be the alternative” to spending thousands of dollars on private security, Bush claimed in response to a question from CBS News anchor Mola Lenghi about whether or not her spending is hypocritical.
“Either I spend $70,000 on private security over the last few months and I’m here standing now, able to speak, able to help save 11 million people from being evicted, or I could possibly have a death attempt on my life. And we’re also talking about the same exact people who say horrible things about me, who lie to build up their base, and then because they lie about me, I receive death threats.”
WATCH:
“Now they don’t address the fact that I receive death threats after they go on air and say horrible things about me, but then they want to say, ‘Oh but she wants private security, she needs private security.’ I have private security because my body is worth being on this planet right now,” Bush continued. “I have private security because they, the white supremacists’ racist narrative that they drive into this country. The fact that they don’t care that this black woman that has put her life on the line. They can’t match my energy first of all. This black woman who puts her life on the line, they don’t care that I could be taken out of here. They actually probably are actually okay with that. But this is the thing. I won’t let them get that off. You can’t get that off. I will make sure I have security because I know I have had attempts on my life and I have too much work to do.”
“There are too many people that need help right now for me to allow that. So if I end up spending $200,000, if I spend ten more dollars on it, you know what, I get to be here to do the work. So suck it up, and defunding the police has to happen. We need to defund the police and put that money into social safety nets, because we’re trying to save lives,” she added.
Bush represents St. Louis and northern St. Louis County, which includes Ferguson, where she marched as a protester following the death of Michael Brown in 2014. St. Louis also saw a record murder rate in 2020, with 87 per 100,000 residents. More than 90% of the 262 murder victims were black, according to police records. (RELATED: Retired St. Louis Police Captain Found Shot Dead Outside Looted Store)
Bush did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.
