Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) speaks during in the East Room of the White House on August 4, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Republican lawmakers are blaming the Biden administration for a dramatic rise in violent crime nationwide. A group of GOP senators spoke on rising crime rates in the U.S. during a press conference this week, citing poor leadership, hostility towards law enforcement and lax border policies as reasons for the uptick in offenses.
Officials attributed the dramatic rise in lawlessness to failed Democrat leadership, asserting Americans want common sense laws which protect their safety and that crime was not limited to Democrat-run cities. The senators then blamed the surge in crime on the influx of drugs from Mexico, asserting the two go hand in hand.
“The meth coming into our state is contributing to the violent crimes we’re seeing,” said Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.). “Homicides, domestic violence, armed robberies and other thefts.”
While southern border states have borne the brunt of the impact of the narcotics, the Montana senator asserted the rest of the union was seeing the affects of the drugs as well. The senators noted, Mexico’s cartels control the border and oversee the influx of narcotics which cross into the U.S. every day
“We’re a northern border state here in Montana with a southern border crisis,” said Daines. “The southern border crisis is creating a crime crisis in Montana because of Mexican meth. Its flooding across the southern border. The Mexican cartels have command and control of the southern border because of the policies of this administration.”
The senators then shifted the blame to the Biden administration while pointing to its lax border policies, chastisement of law enforcement and appointment of ”soft-on-crime” prosecutors. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) then placed part of the blame on Biden’s nominees who’s “slap on the wrist punishments” have led to repeat offenders.
“The crime we’re seeing surging across the country is a direct result of Democrat soft on crime policies,” said Cruz. “When you have soft on crime Democratic DAs that are releasing violent criminals on shockingly low bail, those violent criminals go out and they commit violent crime yet again.”
Cruz called the administration ”out of touch” with the reality of the situation, an attitude which has led to dire consequences for the American people.