President Donald Trump's recent focus on urban crime presents a classic dilemma for Democrats. If they point out that his lurid portrait of a violent epidemic is inaccurate, they risk turning off voters who agree with him on an emotional level. But if they go along with it, they risk legitimizing his power grab.
Trump and his Republican allies clearly hope to ride this issue all the way into next year's midterms, so Democrats need to come up with a counteroffensive soon. Fortunately for them, there is a group of Democrats who know exactly how to run — and win — while talking about fighting crime effectively: big-city mayors.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott told me that they are in a much better position than members of Congress or other national Democratic leaders to push back against Trump on crime.
"They should be lifting us up and allowing us to be the folks that are pushing the message, instead of trying to do the same thing that they always do," he said. "They don't know anything about reducing crime and violence. They don't have to do it. They don’t have to deal with it."
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