Donald Trump lashed out against liberal cities for their ‘soft-on-crime’ policies that he blamed for the rise in violent crimes across the nation during his speech at CPAC on Saturday.
Along with blaming Joe Biden for the chaos in the Ukraine, Trump said Democratic leaders were to blame for the recent rise in homicides across the country, which saw an uptick in 2021 of 5 per cent last year after a 44 per cent rise the previous year, according to the Council on Criminal Justice’s last report.
‘Murders are setting records in our cities,’ he said. ‘The streets of our Democrat-run cities are drenched in blood.’
Trump’s comments are the latest rebuke against Democrats like Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and New York Mayor Eric Adams, who vowed to curb a continuing rise in violent crimes but have little to show for it.
Donald Trump said ‘Democrat-run cities are drenched in blood,’ during his speech at CPAC on Firday as he blamed ‘soft-on-crime’ policies for a rise in violence across the nation
Bob Tataryn, of Chicago, (left) and Dr. Nina Rothschild, a scientist with New York City’s Department of Health (right) were both some of the latest victims of violence in their cities, both of which are dealing with a drastic rise in crime
In Chicago, murders are up by 7 per cent over the same time last year, sexual assaults are up 12 per cent from last year and aggravated assaults are up 14 per cent.
Last year was the city’s most violent, with 3,561 shootings reported and more homicides recorded than any other city, 795.
Bob Tataryn and his wife, Kathryn, both 72, were some of the latest victims of violence in the Windy City when they were assaulted on their way to catch a subway last week.
Bob was left with a broken nose and severe bruises to his face in the aftermath of the attack, and Kathryn needed two surgeries to deal with broken wrists and a broken jaw. She is now unable to open her mouth, Bob told CBS 2, and can only eat liquid food.
‘My wife and I are not doing well,’ Bob told DailyMail.com, adding that they are ‘mentally weak’ and ‘physically improving.’
Bob also blamed the rise in crime on the city’s woke policies, which he said has led to ‘bad people… getting away with crime more easily.’
Bob described to CBS 2 how the man stalked the couple as they walked home, and when Bob tried to confront the suspect he started attacking
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (pictured) has since made it her goal to reduce the rate for 2022
Crime rates are up across the board when compared to the same time period last year
Ninety people accused of murder are free on electronic monitoring ankles in Chicago thanks to woke bail reforms that have put scores of violent criminals back on the streets.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart revealed the numbers to CBS earlier this month, along with his fears that it is making communities significantly less safe.
Dart said that in his county alone, 90 people accused of murder are free along with 40 people charged with attempted murder and 852 people charged with aggravated gun possession.
In Cook County, Chicago, there are 2,300 people free on electronic ankle monitors and 75 percent are accused of violent crimes
In the year 2021, Chicago Police Department arrested 133 people for a violent crime while they were on electronic monitoring – 1 percent of the total.
Chicago’s top cops – Dart and Chicago PD Chief Superintendent David Brown – say that one percent is too high a rate and that while 99 percent may not have been arrested, it sends the wrong message to criminals.
But Chicago Chief Justice Timothy Evans, who imposed the reform in 2017, is refusing to revoke it.
‘A judge cannot hold someone pretrial without a finding that the defendant poses a real and present threat to the physical safety of any person.
‘This must be found by clear and convincing evidence and the burden of proof is on the prosecution.’
Meanwhile in New York, the city has also seen a drastic rise in violent crime so far this year when compared to the same time last year despite Adams’ vow to crackdown on crime.
Felony assaults were up more than 20 per cent compared to the same time last year, with sexual assaults are up 32 per cent, and aggravated assaults are up 14 per cent.
The number of shooting victim’s also rose by more than 30 per cent from 2021.
New York City has seen a nearly 50 percent spike in criminal incidents this year when compared to the same span in 2021. Felony assaults have increased by more than 20 percent, while shootings are up by a marked 30 percent
The city is also experiencing a surge in subway slashings and assaults, causing Adams to deploy 1,000 additional officers to protect commuters as part of his Subway Safety Plan this week.
Despite the additional officers, more than half a dozen people have been attack in the city’s transit system since Adams’ plan went into effect.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the new Subway Safety Plan initiative on Friday as a way to crackdown on crime and violence in the city’s transit system
One of the latest victims was 58-year-old Dr. Nina Rothschild, a scientist with the city’s Department of Health, who was beaten with a hammer while going to ride the subway at Queens Plaza, in Long Island City.
Sickening surveillance video shows a robber kicking her down the steps and bashing her in the head repeatedly with a hammer, fracturing her skull and running off with her purse on Thursday.
Rothschild’s brother, Gerson, is also a scientist in Upper Manhattan at Columbia University and managed to speak with his sister on Friday as she recovers from surgery, ABC7 reported. She remains critically-ill.
Adams said he is ‘really angry’ that a city employee was attacked while walking to the subway.
‘We need to deal with those who are on our streets right now that are dangerous, that are violent and have a total disregard,’ he said
‘A woman taking the train should not be struck in the head with a hammer, repeatedly,’ Adams said. ‘And for us to believe that dangerous people like that, in some corners, that we need to say because they are in pain, they should inflict pain. I don’t subscribe to that. we need to catch him. He needs to be incarcerated.’
The robber kicked Dr Nina Rothschild, 58, down the stairs at the Queens Plaza subway station and proceeded to pull out a hammer and attack her
Dr Nina Rothschild, 58, a scientist with New York City’s Department of Health was kicked down the stairs at a subway station in Queens before being bashed in the head with a hammer
The attack is the latest in a string of stabbings and robberies that have occurred in the past week in New York City’s subway system, which serves more than 3 million people daily
Trump also blasted Biden over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, boasting onstage at the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday night that the deadly assault wouldn’t have happened on his watch.
He went on to rile up the crowd by almost immediately teasing a 2024 presidential run.
‘I stand as the only president of 21st century on whose watch Russia did not invade,’ Trump bragged. ‘Under Bush, Russia invaded Georgia. Under Obama, Russia took Crimea. Under Biden, Russia invaded Ukraine.’
‘I have no doubt Putin made his decisoin to ruthlessly invade Ukraine after watching pathetic withdrawl from Afghanistan.’ The ex-president was critized by Biden and others this week for complimenting the Russian leader and calling him ‘smart’ in the lead-up to the invasion.
‘The problem is not that Putin is smart, of course he’s smart, but the real problem is that our leaders are dumb,’ Trump said.
He argued, ‘The world is always safer when America has a strong president. The world is always in danger with a weak American president.’
Trump also immediately teased another presidential run.
Savoring the size of the CPAC crowd, Trump talked about his movement and suggested his supporters would vote Republicans back in power, warning Democrats it’s a ‘sleeping giant they have awoken.’
‘On November 2024 they will find out like never before,’ he told the crowd.
‘We did it twice and we’ll do it again,’ he added, alluding to the so-called ‘big lie.’
Former President Donald Trump spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday night in Orlando, Florida
Former President Donald Trump gives a fist bump to the crowd as he comes onstage Saturday night at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida
Former President Donald Trump blasted President Joe Biden over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine – saying Putin wouldn’t have made the move on Trump’s watch
Early on, Trump gave a shout-out to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who’s facing criticism after speaking before a white nationalist conference Friday. She spoke at CPAC earlier Saturday.
‘A person who’s very shy, doesn’t like speaking her mind but she does it anyway,’ Trump remarked of Greene.
Trump said he was ‘praying for the proud people of Ukraine’ and expressed admiration for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling him a ‘brave man.’
‘God bless them, they are indeed brave, as everyone understand this horrific disaster would never have happened if our election was not rigged and if I was president,’ he said.
Trump said he liked Zelensky ‘because during that ridiculous impeachment waste of time the president of Ukraine said, “He did nothing wrong.”‘
‘He didn’t have to do it,’ Trump said of Zelensky’s comments.
Trump’s first impeachment involved a call the ex-president made to the Ukrainian leader in July 2019. The president was accused of holding up military aid to Ukraine to push Zelensky to announce investigations into Joe and Hunter Biden.
‘I was with Putin a lot, I spent a lot of time with him, I got along with him,’ Trump also offered. ‘It’s a good thing to get along with people, it’s not a bad thing,’ the ex-president protested.
‘It would have been so easy for me to stop this travesty from happening,’ Trump continued. ‘He understood me, he understood I didn’t play games.’
Much of Trump’s one term in office was consumed by the FBI’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2020 election – and whether there was coordination with the Trump campaign.
The ex-president knocked Biden for being ‘grossly incompetent’ and poked fun at Biden’s threat of sanctions, saying Putin’s been getting sanctioned for the past 25 years.
‘The world hasn’t been this chaotic since World War II,’ Trump said.
Like several other CPAC speakers, Trump compared Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the U.S.’s own border crisis.
‘Ukraine is a catastrophic disaster, but [it’s] really interesting that so many Democrat politicians in Washington seem to be rushing to microphones to declare, “Ukraine’s borders are sacred, we feel for Ukraine… Ukraine’s sovereignty must be protected at all costs,”‘ he noted. ‘Even though they’re destroying our own borders and our own sovereignty.’
‘The Biden administration has spent months obsessing about how to stop an invasion of a country thousands of miles away,’ Trump said. ‘I believe americanss deserve a president who will stop an invasion of our country.’
He added that the Biden White House ‘cares more about helping citizens of a distant foreign nation than it does our own citizens.’
