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Chris Matthews Warns Dems ‘Falling Into The Trap’ By Opposing Trump’s DC Crackdown

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Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews said Wednesday President Donald Trump was goading Democrats into a “trap” by making them defend an unacceptable status quo on crime in Washington, D.C.

Trump announced the deployment of the National Guard and declared a federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to combat crime in the the nation’s capital Monday, days after Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer Edward Coristine, known by the moniker “Big Balls,” was severely injured when he intervened to prevent a carjacking. Matthews and “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski noted that by insisting that crime was decreasing, Democrats were playing into Trump’s hands.

“I love D.C. I think it’s a beautiful city. When I go to work, when I do ‘Morning Joe,’ coming in early in the morning, I got to tell you it’s a beautiful city, Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, you come up to Washington Mall, it’s beautiful,” Matthews said. “Now there are some crimes that are evident and are iconic. If you come into this city, you’re going to see pup tents in the pond circle. Now they don’t commit crimes, necessarily, but they’re there. Signs of homelessness which is not being treated.”

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“You see graffiti, which drives me crazy, because it’s right on the most beautiful places, the bridges and all covered in graffiti, and they have to paint it over to cover it up,” Matthews continued. They don’t really get rid of it, it’s still there. And so I think that iconic, the look of a suburbanite, I think this is about the suburbs and the rural areas against the big cities. I think Trump knows that people are afraid to go into big cities, to go to a Phillies game. They talk about it. They don’t want to go downtown. They don’t want to — they don’t — they don’t trust the situation.”

Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, an intern for Republican Rep. Ron Estes of Kansas, was fatally shot on June 30. Two employees of the Israeli Embassy were killed in a May shooting allegedly carried out by a pro-Hamas activist, while Democratic Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota was assaulted in her apartment in February 2023.

“I think this strength is his red power in the rural parts of Pennsylvania and Scranton and Bethlehem and Allentown, those people are going to look at this headline and say it’s about time somebody’s doing something about D.C. and Philly with Krasner as our DA,” Matthews told Brzezinski. “You need a tougher DA. You just do. To put people in jail. But the crime is inevitably committed by working people. And in D.C. working people are black, African-American. They’re the ones getting hit by crime, not the suburbanites and not the — the tourists and not the people to just look at the city.”

“Trump looks at the city visually like a real estate agent. He wants to beautify the city like he’s doing at the White House with that ridiculous ballroom he’s putting in and getting rid of the Rose Garden. That’s Trump work. But I think it shows strength. I agree with you, I think this is a strength move against the big cities who are in a difficult situation on crime. And the murder rate, you can’t keep saying violent crime is down with the murder rates up. To the average person, the murders are about life and death. You don’t brag about a rising murder rate. And the Democrats are, I agree with you, Mika, they’re falling into the trap of defending what’s indefensible.”

Despite claims from Democrats that violent crime has declined by roughly one-third, MPD data on such incidents reportedly excludes cases of aggravated assault and felony assault, even though Washington laws characterize those offenses as violent. A high-ranking MPD official, Michael Pulliam, was suspended over allegations regarding the manipulation of crime data, NBC Washington reported.