Philadelphia District Attorney blames ‘MAGA states’ and cities for high homicide rates
Larry Krasner got into a heated discussion with a reporter over his soft-on-crime policies.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner took heat Thursday for his bold claim about the homicide rate in "MAGA states" after a local news host suggested his implementation of soft-on-crime policies in the city may be ineffective.
During an appearance on FOX 29 News Philadelphia, Krasner, D., claimed there are "multiple things" going on in the criminal justice system responsible for high crime rates, but said that nobody had tried to singularly blame on entity for the problem until the advent of "reform prosecutors."
"Good Day Philadelphia" co-host Mike Jerrick shot back that everyone in the country knows that Krasner is a proponent of prosecutorial reform-based policies and suggested maybe those policies are not working.
"It is working," Krasner said. "The reality is that our conviction –"
"There’s 1,000 people killed in 20 months," Jerrick interjected, as he clasped his face in disbelief.
Krasner reiterated the policies are working and there is no correlation between the progressive and traditional ways of prosecution as it relates to the rate of crime. He also appeared to partially blame a recent uptick in crime on the COVID-19 pandemic.
"These states in the United States that have a rate of homicide which is 40% higher—are MAGA states," Krasner exclaimed. "They are Trump states. I’ll say it again, the rate of homicide in Trump states as compared to Biden states, take all 50 of them, is 40% higher."
Jerrick said Republicans would argue the opposite and that blue cities have more crime.
"Republicans lie," Krasner retorted. "I mean let’s just get down to it. Republicans lie. That is what they do." Jerrick could be heard quietly stating that not all Republicans lie.
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"OK, that’s right. Not all of them do, but the MAGA ones do. Eight out of ten of the most violent cities are Trump cities. Like we've got to get real about this. Facts matter. Law matters. We have to pursue that," Krasner said.
The top 10 cities in America with the highest homicide rates are run almost exclusively run by Democratic mayors, as one observer noted, with other conservative critics also hitting Krasner for his spin.
Philadelphia set an all-time record for homicides in 2021, recording 562. Overall violent crime is up from the same period last year, and 1,700 people have been shot in the city this year.
The skyrocketing crime in the city sparked calls for the impeachment of Krasner, with three Republican members of the Pennsylvania House alleging that the DA’s progressive policies have increased gun violence. Since then, a committee has recommended that Krasner be held in contempt for failing to comply with subpoenas.
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Krasner has claimed the impeachment attempts are a "MAGA effort" to "erase" Philadelphia votes.
Fox News' Emma Colton contributed to this report.