The View co-host Meghan McCain says Democrats who are forced to explain the slogan “Defund the police” are giving Trump a political advantage in the 2020 election.
Whoopi Goldberg asked McCain on Tuesday’s episode about the political consequences of Democrats embracing a message of defunding police departments, to which McCain said the Trump campaign is being given a “great campaign slogan.”
“OK. So, Meghan, you think this is a risky strategy for Democrats?” Goldberg asked.
“Yeah. I don’t know how much time I have right now, but I will say, if you were to hire me to advise you to run for office, there are a few tenants of politics that have not changed. One of them is, if you’re explaining, you’re losing. And there’s a lot of explaining going on on this. Now, I will tell you, if you mean reform, say ‘reform.’ If you mean defund, say ‘defund.’ People are confused,” McCain said, speculating that the public interprets “defunding police” to be synonymous with abolishing the presence of the police altogether.
“I saw a video that went viral of a Minneapolis city councilwoman saying that it is quote ‘a privilege’ for me to be able to call the police department if someone broke into my house and was trying to hurt me or rob me,” she said. “And I think people got to be real crystal clear on this. Listen, you guys can spin and say everything you want. I know the politics, at the end of the day, unfortunately, is real simple, and it is about slogans, and ‘Defund the police’ is a great one for the Trump campaign.”
Hosts Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin then attempted to explain their positions to McCain but were interrupted by Goldberg.
“More explaining! Explaining, you’re losing,” McCain said.
Nationwide protests have taken place for the past two weeks following the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Chauvin was fired from the department and has been charged with second-degree murder. The three other officers who were involved in detaining Floyd, who was suspected of using a counterfeit $20 bill, were also fired and charged with aiding and abetting murder.
In response, a veto-proof majority of the Minneapolis City Council pledged to disband the Police Department on Sunday in a city home to approximately 430,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was told to “get the f— out” by a crowd of protesters on Saturday after saying he did not support abolishing the police.
Far-left members of Congress, including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, have applauded the decision, while presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has resisted calls to join the anti-police movement.
“As his criminal justice proposal made clear months ago, Vice President Joe Biden does not believe that police should be defunded,” Biden spokesman Andrew Bates wrote in a statement on Monday.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who called for a socialist “political revolution” during his presidential campaigns, also distanced himself from the message, asserting he does not believe in abolishing police departments.
“Do I think we should not have police departments in America? No, I don’t. There’s no city in the world that does not have police departments,” he said. “I think we want to redefine what police departments do, give them the support they need to make their jobs better defined. So, I do believe that we need well-trained, well-educated, and well-paid professionals in police departments. Anyone who thinks that we should abolish all police departments in America, I don’t agree.”
