President Trump’s campaign is charging that presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s position on the “defund the police” movement has changed significantly, citing an interview he released Wednesday afternoon.
Speaking with NowThis, a progressive media outlet, Biden said that police using surplus military equipment “become the enemy” when they go into unfamiliar neighborhoods.
“Surplus military equipment for law enforcement, they don’t need that! The last thing you need is an up-armored Humvee coming into a neighborhood, it’s like the military invading,” the former vice president said. “They don’t know anybody. They become the enemy. They’re supposed to be protecting these people.”
As he was finishing a sentence, the interviewer asked him if he agrees that the government can “redirect” some police funding.
“Yes, absolutely,” Biden replied.
Despite the demands by activists leading the “defund the police” movement, its proponents often argue that they do not wish to disband law enforcement entirely. Instead, they say, much of the money that goes to police can be reallocated to social workers and other forms of public assistance.
The Trump campaign was swift in condemning Biden’s comments, sending out an email shortly after with the subject line: “Biden: CUT police funding!”
Biden’s team was quick to mock this reaction, saying the president hired “an illiterate comms staff.”
“Biden is running on *more* COPS funding for community policing,” Biden spokesman Andrew Bates wrote on Twitter, referring to a Department of Justice grant program that provides federal funding for law enforcement.
Last month, Biden’s campaign released a statement saying, “Vice President Biden does not believe the police should be defunded.”
“He hears and shares the deep grief and frustration of those calling out for change and is driven to ensure that justice is done and that we put a stop to this terrible pain,” the statement read.
