White House press secretary Jen Psaki mocked Fox News for focusing on ‘soft-on-crime policies’ and a spike in crime, questioning what the term even meant.
The press secretary, speaking to her old Obama White House colleagues on Pod Save America, said in an interview released last week that she had four news networks on in the background – CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and Fox.
She said that CNN and MSNBC were focused on Ukraine-Russia tensions. ‘On Fox is Jeanine Pirro talking about soft-on-crime consequences, I mean, what does that even mean?,’ the press secretary jeered.
‘There’s an alternate universe on some coverage,’ Psaki said. ‘What’s scary about it is a lot of people watch that. They think that the president isn’t doing anything to address people’s safety in New York and that couldn’t be further from the truth.’
Psaki then seemed to imply Americans care more about ‘what’s happening in their lives’ than crime spikes.
‘People care more about what’s happening in their lives than what’s necessarily happening in every cable news chyron every day,’ she said.
The four hosts of the podcast all served as former Obama aides and Psaki served as Obama’s deputy press secretary and deputy communications director.
Meanwhile, 24 police officers across the nation were shot in the month of January, according to data compiled by nonprofit Gun Violence Archive, compared to 17 in January 2020 and January 2021.
Rep. Andy Biggs said on Twitter Psaki’s remarks were ‘completely out of touch.’
‘It means because of Democratic policies like bail reform and defunding the police, there has been a record spike in murders,’ said Sen. Tom Cotton, quoting a clip the press secretary’s comments.
Former Trump adviser Stephen Miller called the clip ‘appalling.’
‘A truly appalling video. Psaki laughingly mocks those concerned over “soft-on-crime consequences,” as living in an “alternate universe. “What does that even mean?” Psaki laments. Perhaps she should start by asking the NYPD heroes who lined 5th Avenue to honor their slain comrade.’
President Biden is traveling to New York City to meet with Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday to discuss gun crime.
The White House said Biden planned during the Feb. 3 meeting to discuss his administration’s ‘comprehensive strategy’ to combat gun crime, including increased funding for cities and states to hire more police officers and pay for community violence prevention and intervention programs.
‘There’s an alternate universe on some coverage,’ Psaki said. ‘What’s scary about it is a lot of people watch that. They think that the president isn’t doing anything to address people’s safety in New York and that couldn’t be further from the truth,’ White House press secretary Jen Psaki said
A woman was pushed to her death at the Times Square Subway station at 9:40 AM on Jan. 15
A New York City police officer on the scene of a suspected carjacking on Broadway north of Times Square in New York on Jan. 12
The strategy also includes beefing up federal law enforcement efforts against gun traffickers, the White House said.
The visit comes after the recent fatal shooting of two police officers. On a snowy Friday morning in New York thousands of officers lined Fifth Avenue for the funeral of Officer Jason Rivera, and even Gov. Kathy Hochul came down from Albany to attend. Sen. Chuck Schumer also made an appearance and Adams gave a eulogy.
Rivera’s widow Dominique went after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in her eulogy, telling the congregation: ‘This system continues to fail us. We are not safe anymore, not even the members of the service.
‘I know you were tired of these laws, especially the ones from the new DA. I hope he’s watching you speak through me right now.
‘I’m sure all of our blue family is tired, too. But I promise, we promise, that your death won’t be in vain.’
Bragg, on taking office, said offenses like marijuana misdemeanors, prostitution, resisting arrest and fare dodging will no longer be prosecuted.
Bragg instructed prosecutors to stop seeking prison sentences for crimes except for homicides, assaults resulting in serious injury, domestic violence felonies, sex offenses, public corruption, and ‘major economic crimes’.
He instructed prosecutors to downgrade felonies to misdemeanors in certain cases. For instance, a suspect who would have been charged with armed robbery of a store would instead be charged with petit larceny, a misdemeanor, if no one was seriously injured and there was no ‘genuine risk of physical harm.’
The directive comes despite New York City seeing a surge in violent crime.
Aside from the same list of offenses, Bragg’s prosecutors have also been told not to seek bail requirements for suspects awaiting trial.
The memo also outlines a number of circumstances in which charges should be downgraded, including certain cases of armed robbery and drug dealing.
Days after the two officers were shot, Adams announced a plan to stem gun violence that includes stepping up efforts to seize illegal guns.
The mayor also wants the police department to use facial recognition and other technology to identify people carrying weapons, expand cash rewards for tipsters who share information on gun-related crimes and for the city to help businesses pay to install surveillance cameras.
Meanwhile, major cities across the US have observed carjackings spike by up to 510 per cent in a ‘disturbing’ trend some are attributing to lax punishment and a shift in driving habits.
In Chicago, 1,849 carjackings were reported last year – a 510 per cent increase from the 303 vehicular hijackings in 2014, according to city data. Last year’s figure represents a 30 per cent increase from the 1,413 cases reported in 2020.
Robbery in New York City has spiked by about 33% in the week ending on January 23, the NYPD’s most recent data, with 944 incidents as compared to the 709 incidents reported in same duration last year
City Alderman Ray Lopez weighed in on the matter, telling CNN: ‘It’s like the perfect storm, where all these soft on crime policies have come to a head during this pandemic.’
Meantime, New York City has seen carjacking rising by more than 350 per cent in the past three years, to 510 in 2021. Comparatively, there were 328 cases in 2020, 132 in 2019, and 112 cases in 2018, CNN reported.
Two people were pushed onto the subway tracks in New York last month in unprovoked attacks. One died as she collided with an oncoming train and the other had non-fatal injuries.
Actor Michael Rapaport captured a viral incident last week of a sticky-fingered New York resident loading up a bag of goods at Rite Aid and casually walking out.
The Upper East Side pharmacy will be closing on February 15, and 63 other locations will close in the coming months with thefts a major reason, the pharmacy chain announced in late December.
‘He’s walking down the street like s**t is Gucci, he looked me in the face like ”what’s good.” I was watching him the whole time! My man just went Christmas shopping in January.’
The rampant thefts follows a trend in started in crime-ridden San Francisco where thieves last year were often seen simply waltzing past security guards to sell stolen items right outside the doors of Walgreens pharmacies.
The national chain has closed 17 of its 70 San Francisco locations in the past two years because of the shelf raiders, who have swiped everything not behind lock and key. Thefts in the chain’s 53 remaining stores are five times the average for their stores elsewhere in the country, according to company officials.