Rep. Ilhan Omar pushed back against former President Barack Obama after he referred to the phrase “defund the police” as a “slogan.”
“We lose people in the hands of police,” the Minnesota Democrat tweeted in response to Obama’s comment from a recent interview in which he worried that “snappy phrases” including “defund the police” are ineffective. “It’s not a slogan but a policy demand. And centering the demand for equitable investments and budgets for communities across the country gets us progress and safety.”
We lose people in the hands of police. It’s not a slogan but a policy demand. And centering the demand for equitable investments and budgets for communities across the country gets us progress and safety. https://t.co/Vu6inw4ms7
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) December 2, 2020
“I guess you can use a snappy slogan like ‘defund the police,’ but, you know, you lost a big audience the minute you say it, which makes it a lot less likely that you’re actually going to get the changes you want done,” Obama said in the interview.
Omar has been a vocal supporter of defunding the police, including in her home city of Minneapolis, where the City Council unanimously voted over the summer to advance a plan defunding the police and the local budget committee agreed to cut and redistribute over $1 million in police funding.
This week, it was reported that the Minneapolis City Council is proposing an $8 million funding shift away from the Police Department, which Omar appeared to support on Twitter.
“Don’t fall for the fear-driven narratives,” she tweeted. “We can craft a justice system that prioritizes people’s basic needs like mental health + violence prevention, & allow the city to put public safety first.”
Don’t fall for the fear-driven narratives.
We can craft a justice system that prioritizes people’s basic needs like mental health + violence prevention, & allow the city to put public safety first.
S/o @lisabendermpls @CunninghamMPLS & @SteveFletcher33 https://t.co/oBXCQyvIDq
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 30, 2020
The push to defund police departments and direct those funds to local organizations and programs has gained traction following the death of George Floyd while in police custody on May 25, and several prominent politicians and local jurisdictions have embraced Omar’s stance on the issue.
President-elect Joe Biden has said he opposes defunding the police but supports “conditioning federal aid to police based on whether or not they meet certain basic standards of decency and honorableness.”
