Will this be Biden’s downfall?
Representative Jim Jordan from Ohio perceives urban crime as a significant threat to President Joe Biden’s chances of reelection, with homicide rates and theft continuing to plague major cities across the United States.
In recent months, House Republicans have consistently drawn attention to the crisis unfolding at the southern border. Additionally, President Biden has been grappling with persistently low approval ratings concerning the economy.
Chairing the Judiciary Committee, Jordan has directed focus towards a third pressing issue: public safety. Through a series of hearings, including one in Philadelphia where families of slain officers attributed their deaths to the city’s progressive district attorney, Jordan underscores the importance of addressing crime.
Although homicide rates have begun to decline nationwide after peaking during the pandemic, Jordan insists that issues like border security, rising crime rates, escalating gas prices, and record inflation remain paramount concerns for Americans.
Emphasizing the importance of law and order as a cornerstone of good public policy, Jordan and his Republican colleagues argue that leniency towards criminals, initially embraced and then abandoned by Democrats post-George Floyd’s death, has contributed to the surge in violence.
Jordan acknowledges the electoral ramifications of crime, foreseeing Biden being tied to the issue. Recent polls indicate a growing public concern regarding crime, with 58% of Americans prioritizing it as a key issue for the government, a significant increase from when Biden took office.
In response to the Democratic strategy to mitigate attacks on crime policies, which includes highlighting funding allocated by the American Rescue Plan for police departments and Biden’s adoption of law and order messaging, Jordan remains critical. He dismisses Biden’s recent speech condemning anti-Israel college protests as inadequate and calls for stricter measures against unlawful activity, such as revoking visas for foreign students involved in protests.
This stance reflects the continued prioritization of crime as a central issue for Republicans, often intertwined with broader concerns like immigration. Representative Andy Biggs from Arizona, leading the Judiciary subcommittee on crime, underscores this point, noting how crime policy is nested within broader issues like border security, underscoring the intricate interplay of these concerns in contemporary political discourse.