People are less safe as a result of Biden and Democrats’ failure on crime, according to Republican National Committee spokesman Will O’Grady.

“Democrat mayors who defunded the police have seen soaring crime rates, and dangerous criminals have walked scot-free because of far-left Democrat district attorneys,” O’Grady told the Washington Examiner. “Biden’s visit to New York is too little, too late.”

Biden has sought to avoid being tied to the “defund the police” movement, although some of his aides are vocal proponents. During the 2020 campaign, Biden even angered activists, whom he needed to turn out and cast ballots, by advocating for federal money to be spent on community policing programs. They were also rankled by Biden’s lead role in drafting the 1994 crime law, which is blamed for mass incarceration that disproportionately affects minorities.

Simultaneously, Democrats have been tainted by the “defund the police” messaging, particularly those competing in battleground districts or states and those hoping to persuade independent voters. Elevating successfully elected Democrats such as centrist Adams, a retired police captain who prevailed over liberal mayoral candidates during last year’s primary, provides cover for party members who fear repercussions for expressing their views.

And with polling indicating that Biden is in a precarious position regarding crime, the White House cannot afford to make mistakes like press secretary Jen Psaki, who appeared to downplay crime as a concern in an interview taped last week that went viral on the weekend.

“What does that even mean?” she replied when asked about the ramifications of Biden’s “soft-on-crime” policies.

Psaki defended her comments Monday by slamming claims that Biden is soft on crime as having “no basis.” Instead, she pointed to Biden’s support of community policing programs and his executive actions clamping down on ghost guns as examples of his proactive posture.

Crime started increasing under former President Donald Trump, though no new nationwide FBI data “[have] been released to date,” Psaki added.

However, Republicans cite city crime numbers to bolster their case against Biden and Democrats. For instance, roughly 550 victims were killed in Philadelphia during 2021, surpassing the previous record set in 1990. Republicans similarly refer to the uptick in carjackings, “smash and grab” burglaries, and law enforcement attacks.

Biden emphasized local and state governments himself during a National Governors Association-White House meeting Monday when he mentioned the $2 trillion coronavirus spending bill.

“There’s a lot of challenges out there that we’re not even talking to directly today — there’s so many — but the surge of gun violence since the start of this pandemic,” he said. “We should use these funds to combat violent crime as well, including hiring additional police officers.”

The problem for Biden and Democrats is that crime can be measured by opinion and perception too, informing the president’s overall average job approval of net negative 13 percentage points. Specifically, a majority of respondents told Gallup pollsters last October that they believed there was more crime in their neighborhoods compared to a year ago. Almost 3 in 10 people said there was less crime than 12 months ago, and there was approximately the same amount for 2 in 10. In 2020, only 38% reported there being more crime — it was 43% in 2019, 39% in 2018, and 40% in 2017.

Biden, Psaki, and other Democrats have partly attributed the rise in crime to the pandemic. Yet their critics contend that their anti-police rhetoric, Vice President Kamala Harris promoting an online bail fund for a freed man charged with murder, and even the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to cancel select felon deportations have all contributed to the current situation. Biden also spoke during the 2020 campaign of “conditioning federal aid to police based on whether or not they meet certain basic standards of decency and honorableness.”

BIDEN AND DEMOCRATS NEED MORE THAN A SUPREME COURT FIGHT TO ENERGIZE VOTERS

Biden’s New York City trip comes after two police officers, Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora, were fatally shot by a gunman in Harlem last month. The suspect, Lashawn McNeil, died days later after a third officer shot him as he attempted to run away.