(DailyVantage.com) – Last Thursday President Joe Biden announced that he would sign a GOP-backed crime bill. The bill would roll back progressive criminal justice reforms in Washington D.C.
Biden, who is desperately trying to paint the narrative that he is tough on crime, said that he doesn’t support certain provisions within the D.C. criminal justice reform bill. In a tweet, Biden wrote “I support D.C. statehood and home-rule – but I don’t support some of the changes the D.C. Council put forward over the Mayor’s objections…” Biden went on to say that he opposed the reduced penalties for carjackings.
Some Democrats, however, were disappointed by the President’s decision to go against his own party. Representative Pete Aguilar (D-CA) said that Biden’s decision to side with the GOP was “disappointing for those of us who believe in home rule.”
Democrats in the Senate, though, appear to be rallying behind Biden’s decision to back the bipartisan bill. So far, four Democratic Senators said they would support the effort to reverse the D.C. criminal justice reforms: Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jon Tester (D-MT), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), and Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM). Independent Senator Angus King (I-ME), who often votes with Democrats, also said he would follow suit.
Moderate Senators in red states like Jon Tester know that they face an uphill battle in 2024. Tester, who represents the conservative state of Montana, will have to prove to voters that he is not soft on crime.
Some Republicans, though, are not fooled by Democratic appeals to the center. The Montana Republican Party, for example, tweeted that “For the past two years, Jon Tester has voted for anything Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden wanted him to.”
Biden and other Democrats, in an attempt to come across as tough on crime, risk losing support from the progressive left.
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