The Republican Governors Association (RGA) will launch a video Thursday highlighting Republican governors’ efforts to combat rises in crime across the U.S. and support law enforcement as Democrats have been supporting soft-on-crime policies.
The video, first obtained by the Daily Caller, is the third in a series titled Red State Recovery. This video focuses specifically on crime and features Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. The Republican Governors hammer Democrats in the video for wanting to defund the police and mention the spike in crime in cities run by Democrats.
The other two videos in the RGA’s Red State Recovery series were focused on education and the economy.
An analysis released in June showed six major U.S. cities are on track to surpass historic crime records reached in 2021. Violent crimes hit record highs in 2021 in Atlanta, Baltimore, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., and are all expected to pass their violent crime rates just around six months into 2022.
“When you can’t send your kids to pump gas or go to the mall or people are getting shot when they are walking down the sidewalk or stabbed when they’re walking in the neighborhood park. People are very frustrated,” Kemp said in the video.
“In communities across the country like in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, so many other places, is this remarkable, incredible outbreak of crime,” Abbott said.
“With some dismay over the past year and a half to two years we watched as some of our great cities have been allowed to burn or be looted. All kinds of criminal activities happening,” Dunleavy added.
Reeves then said, “There is no doubt that the defund the police movement certainly gave criminals more and more incentives to get out and do what they do, which is wreak havoc.”
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“Americans are paying attention. They recognize the stark contrast between Republican leadership and the failed policies that are coming out of Democratic governors that are leading in states across this country,” Reynolds concluded. (RELATED: ‘Every State Is A Border State’: Republican Governors Join Forces To Tackle Drug Cartel Threat)
Republicans in Congress have introduced a resolution saying any member of Congress who makes a public statement advocating for defunding the police should not be allowed to use federal funds to contract private security, as many Democrats have done. (RELATED: Red States Are Booming While Blue States Have Yet To Recover Post-Pandemic. Here’s Why)
The Daily Caller first reported in April 2021 that members of the far-left group in Congress called “the Squad” spent thousands of campaign funds and used taxpayer dollars on private security for themselves while advocating to defund the police.
The RGA will release the video later Thursday.