{"id":189679,"date":"2025-08-31T16:46:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T16:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/189679\/"},"modified":"2025-08-31T16:46:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T16:46:10","slug":"democrats-see-crime-as-a-major-problem-poll-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/189679\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats see crime as a major problem, poll finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Democrat Eric McWilliams doesn\u2019t approve of Donald Trump<\/a> sending National Guard troops to cities like Washington, D.C. And he\u2019s certainly not supportive of most of the president\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n

But the 63-year old retired handyman and U.S. Navy veteran does praise Trump for one thing. \u201cWhen it comes to crime,\u201d he said, \u201cHe\u2019s alright. He\u2019s doing pretty good. How he\u2019s doing it is another matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCrime is a big problem,\u201d he went on. \u201cAt least he is doing something.\u201d<\/p>\n

McWilliams\u2019 views reflect the thinking of a lot of Democrats, according to a recent poll<\/a> from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research<\/a>. It finds that while most disapprove of how Trump is handling the issue, a large majority, 68%, see crime as a \u201cmajor problem\u201d in large cities. That\u2019s despite the fact that statistics show<\/a> crime, overall, is down across the nation, with some cities reporting 30-year lows.<\/p>\n

The findings underscore the challenge facing Democratic leaders. They must thread the needle between criticizing Trump\u2019s policies, which are deeply unpopular among their base, while at the same time not dismissing widespread concerns about safety, which are amplified in many news sources and in online forums like Facebook and the popular Nextdoor app. <\/p>\n

That could create a vulnerability for the party heading into next year\u2019s midterm elections.<\/p>\n

Trump pushes Democrats to engage on an issue <\/p>\n

where he has the upper hand<\/p>\n

While Trump remains unpopular overall, the new poll finds his approach to crime has earned him high marks compared to other issues<\/a> like the economy and immigration. About half of U.S. adults, 53%, say they approve of his handling of crime.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of Americans<\/a>, 81%, also see crime as a \u201cmajor problem\u201d in large cities. That includes nearly all Republicans, roughly three-quarters of independents and nearly 7 in 10 Democrats.<\/p>\n

The issue is complex, though, even for those who are concerned. In interviews, participants who oppose Trump\u2019s unprecedented takeover of Washington, D.C.\u2019s police department and threats to expand his efforts to other cities expressed alarm, calling his actions anti-American and part of what they see as an effort to distract the public from issues the White House would prefer they ignore.<\/p>\n

They believe resources would be better spent investing in community policing, mental health services and passing meaningful laws to get guns off city streets.<\/p>\n

But many also bemoaned the state of public safety in the country, even if they said they felt safe in their own neighborhoods and acknowledged that violent crime is down after a pandemic-era spike. Several noted that they or their neighbors had been the victims of serious crimes and complained about what they felt was a lackluster police response.<\/p>\n

Brian Cornelia, 62, a retired foreman and lifelong Democrat who lives in Michigan, near Marquette, is displeased with the performance of both parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefund the police was nuts,\u201d he said. \u201cNow with Trump what he\u2019s doing, that\u2019s nuts too.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that crime is \u201cnot at all\u201d an issue where he lives and \u201cdown all over,\u201d but nonetheless appreciates that Trump is doing something.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething is happening. We\u2019ll see if it helps or not, but it\u2019s better than not doing anything,\u201d he said. Either way, he said Trump had backed Democrats into a corner.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s bad. How are you going to say you don\u2019t want crime to be dealt with?\u201d he said. \u201cIf you argue with him, what, you\u2019re soft on crime? It\u2019s a Catch-22.\u201d<\/p>\n

Criticism of Trump\u2019s tactics<\/p>\n

Even those who give Trump credit question his tactics. <\/p>\n

About 8 in 10 Democrats say it\u2019s \u201ccompletely\u201d or \u201csomewhat\u201d unacceptable for the president to seize control of local police departments, as he\u2019s done in Washington. And about 6 in 10 say it\u2019s unacceptable for the federal government to use the U.S. military and National Guard to assist local police.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t approve of national troops having authority over fellow Americans,\u201d said McWilliams, the Navy veteran. \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t use our armed forces to patrol our own people. That turns it into an authoritarian state.\u201d<\/p>\n

McWilliams, who lives in White Hall, Pennsylvania, said crime \u201cis practically non-existent\u201d in his neighborhood, where he doesn\u2019t even lock his door. But he worries about the situation in nearby Allentown and across the nation, noting the deadly mass shooting<\/a> this week at a Minneapolis church.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad he does want to fight crime because \u2013 well, nobody else is doing it, certainly not our mayors and governors and police department,\u201d he said, accusing them of being \u201ctoo politically correct\u201d to pursue controversial tactics like \u201cstop and frisk,\u201d which he believes works.<\/p>\n

Others are far more skeptical.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s just terrible,\u201d said Carolyn Perry, 79, a lifelong Democrat and retired nurse who lives in Philadelphia and sees Trump\u2019s actions as an excuse to target Democratic cities that voted against him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this National Guard thing he\u2019s doing is ridiculous,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s almost like martial law. And now they\u2019re walking around with guns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrat Star Kaye, 59, who lives in Downey, California, near Los Angeles, agreed, slamming Trump for using the military against residents \u2014 something she said the Revolutionary War was fought, in part, against.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course living in a big city, I understand concerns about crime,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think an authoritarian playbook is the right way to fix them.\u201d\u2032<\/p>\n

If the president really wanted to tackle the issue, she argued, he would be investing in local police departments instead of diverting resources to immigration enforcement. She sees the crackdown as part of a broader effort to bolster Republicans\u2019 chances in next year\u2019s midterm elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s going to want to have troops in the street to intimidate people not to vote,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Democrats try to find their own message<\/p>\n

Part of the challenge for Democrats is that, historically, crime has not been a top issue for their base.<\/p>\n

Gallup polling from April<\/a> found that only about one-third of Democrats said they worried \u201ca great deal\u201d about crime and violence and were more likely to be concerned about the economy, Social Security, the environment, hunger and homelessness.<\/p>\n

Crime has also traditionally been a stronger issue for Republicans, including in the 2024 election.<\/p>\n

Democrats acknowledged the gap last week<\/a> at a national party gathering in Minneapolis. In a presentation to Democratic National Committee members, party strategists noted Republicans spent about three times as much on crime-related ads as Democrats in recent presidential election years.<\/p>\n

They urged Democrats not to mimic the \u201ctough-on-crime\u201d rhetoric Republicans have embraced for decades, but instead position themselves as being \u201cserious about safety, not empty scare tactics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDON\u2019T TAKE TRUMP\u2019S CRIME BAIT\u2014INSTEAD, LEAN INTO SOLUTIONS TO PREVENT CRIME, RESPOND TO CRISIS, AND STOP VIOLENCE,\u201d they urged in a slide presentation. <\/p>\n

Some Democratic politicians have been trying to do just that.<\/p>\n

They include Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who has been pushing back against Trump\u2019s threats<\/a> to expand his efforts to Chicago. He defended Democrats\u2019 approach and said local efforts to tackle crime have been working.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also are tough on crime,\u201d Pritzker told The Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday. Trump, he said, \u201ctalks a good game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the President has done, however, is to make it harder to crack down on crime,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

___ Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writers Sophia Tareen in Chicago and Steve Peoples in Minneapolis contributed reporting.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The AP-NORC poll of 1,182 adults was conducted Aug. 21-25, using a sample drawn from NORC\u2019s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Democrat Eric McWilliams doesn\u2019t approve of Donald Trump sending National Guard troops to cities like…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":189680,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[106094,106093,106092,12785,7837,84,69,90,106095,57,86,1818,72794,564,8006,8132,17635,50,80,55347,89,61,322,67,132,68,906,93],"class_list":{"0":"post-189679","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-allentown","10":"tag-brian-cornelia","11":"tag-carolyn-perry","12":"tag-dc-wire","13":"tag-democracy","14":"tag-district-of-columbia","15":"tag-donald-trump","16":"tag-elections","17":"tag-eric-mcwilliams","18":"tag-general-news","19":"tag-government-policy","20":"tag-illinois","21":"tag-j-b-pritzker","22":"tag-maryland","23":"tag-md-state-wire","24":"tag-military-and-defense","25":"tag-minneapolis","26":"tag-news","27":"tag-politics","28":"tag-public-opinion","29":"tag-u-s-democratic-party","30":"tag-u-s-news","31":"tag-u-s-republican-party","32":"tag-united-states","33":"tag-unitedstates","34":"tag-us","35":"tag-virginia","36":"tag-washington-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115124396950277530","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}