There was quite the revealing moment during the panel discussion on today’s This Week on ABC. In the midst of a discussion on crime in Washington, D.C., host Jon Karl could not bring himself to recognize that Democrats are on the wrong side of an 80-20 issue (crime), instead shifting blame to a familiar boogeyman.
Watch as Karl blames President Donald Trump for the left’s ongoing meltdown over the ongoing federal takeover in the nation’s capital:
RAMESH PONNURU: There is an element of this with Trump setting a trap for Democrats, but Democrats are walking into the trap.
RACHEL BADE: Yeah.
PONNURU: When Democrats argue, “oh, actually statistically, crime is a little bit down since 2023.” And they don't acknowledge that crime has always been high.
JON KARL: But Trump draws them in by saying things that just aren't true. I mean, Trump is not telling the truth about the- about the crime stats.
PONNURU: He -- look --
BADE: Crime stats might be down, but there is still --
(CROSSTALK)
PONNURU: There are many cases in which Trump lies even more than --
(CROSSTALK)
KARL: No question. But he says, “this is the worst ever”, and --
PONNURU: But the way Democrats handle it also matters. And they are- they are making themselves look more out of touch with the way they're responding to it.
BADE: Yeah. You also just have to open your eyes. I mean, look, D.C. looks a lot different than it used to. I mean, I used to live here. I moved because my house got robbed, my car got stolen, and this was before it got bad. So, I mean, there's that element of-
KARL: OK. So -- so, and -- and by the way, I'm old enough to have been here in the '90s when it was actually really, really bad.
Karl’s first instinct is to blame Trump for the Democrats’ woes- not the fact that they’ve landed yet again on the 20% of another 80-20 issue. “But Trump lies”, as opposed to any acknowledgement of what has been a problem in the nation’s capital for a very long time.
It is most notable that Karl swears Trump is lying about the crime rate, but does not acknowledge that there is an ongoing debate about the veracity of the crime data presented by Washington, D.C. In fact, a Metro police commander was recently suspended for manipulating crime data. To this day, the legacy media have not referenced that suspension beyond a brief acknowledgement by Gabe Gutierrez at the NBC Nightly News.
The legacy media remain committed to burying the federal law enforcement takeover at the nation’s capital, even as D.C. enjoys a 9-day murder-free streak. Reflexive opposition, even if it means taking the 20 on an 80-20 issue.