President Donald J. Trump’s sweeping federal intervention into Washington, D.C.’s policing has now reportedly prompted a predictable wave of public outrage from Democrats — but not all of it matches what those same voices are saying behind closed doors.
The president announced that he would deploy the National Guard and place the capital’s police department under federal control, describing the move as a necessary step to tackle crime.
The announcement drew immediate criticism from opponents who framed it as political theater, pointing to Metropolitan Police Department data showing that the city’s violent crime rate was already at a 30-year low when Mr. Trump took office and has fallen a further 26 percent this year.
But Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman, said Tuesday that the official narrative from his Democratic friends does not tell the whole story. “People have been calling me over the past couple days, going, you know: ‘Washington should have gotten involved years ago. This place is dangerous. It’s a mess. It’s a wreck’ and whatever,” he recounted. “And then they’ll go on Twitter, go: ‘This is the worst outrage of all time, these shocking—’”
According to Mr. Scarborough, every one of those calls came from Democrats. None were willing to go on the record, but privately, they admitted that the city’s safety has been a concern for years.
“Which I understand,” Mr. Scarborough said. “It’s like people need to express their concerns about Donald Trump going too far. We saw what happened back in 2020 with the National Guard. Certainly can’t have any repeat of that. Don’t want the federalization of the entire city. But man, I don’t care what the crime statistics say. Crime has been a problem in this city for the 32 years I’ve been living inside and outside of the city.”
While acknowledging the official data, Mr. Scarborough argued that numbers do not capture the lived experience of residents. He contrasted Washington with New York City, where, he said, “I walk 40-50 blocks at night and not think twice about it in New York City, in Midtown, Downtown. I mean, New York is a safe, safe place. Washington, D.C.? Man, it’s door to door.”
The host recalled speaking with city residents — “all Democrats” — who admitted their friends would not walk more than three blocks at night without feeling unsafe.
“I get one of those bikes — you know me, I love riding the bikes around — I’ll ride around and I go door to door. I don’t slow down. It’s very dangerous there,” he said.
“Glad the crime rates are going down,” he added, “but there is no sense of security for people who have been living in that city for 30 years.”
Mr. Trump’s move to federalize D.C. policing remains contentious, but Scarborough’s remarks underscore a quiet acknowledgment, even among some Democrats, that Washington’s crime problem — whatever the statistics — has left residents uneasy and open to stronger action.
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