Rep. Adam Schiff’s Republican challenger accused the Democrat on Friday of ignoring the homelessness crisis in his California district.
“He’s done nothing, or virtually nothing, for our district,” Eric Early, who announced his candidacy to represent California’s 28th Congressional District in July, told Fox News. “Certainly not a darn thing for homelessness.”
“It’s a mess out here, it’s terrible,” he added.
Early, a Los Angeles attorney, made his comments about Schiff while walking through parts of Echo Park and Hollywood, meeting with homeless people and listening to their stories about their situations.
Schiff’s team responded to the criticism by linking Early to President Trump.
“These attacks from Eric Early, who is from out of the district and knows little of our community, are characteristic of someone who once described himself as Trump’s biggest supporter in California,” the Schiff campaign said. “They may please Trump, but do not impress our constituents.”
Schiff is the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and has been a vocal critic of the president. He was lead impeachment manager in the Ukraine-related trial against Trump that ended in acquittal this month.
Early argued that voters will gravitate to his campaign because he is willing to take a firm stand on combating homelessness.
“We need somebody strong enough to fight and say we are going to forcibly move these people off the streets if they don’t come voluntarily,” Early said. “That may not look quote-unquote compassionate, but I believe it’s much more compassionate than leaving these folks out here to die.”
California’s homeless population increased by 16.4% from 2018 to 2019, and 53% of all recorded homeless people in the United States lived in the state as of January 2019, according to Housing and Urban Development figures.
A recent University of Southern California poll showed the homelessness crisis is the No. 1 concern of voters in Schiff’s district.
