Fox News anchor Chris Wallace turned the tables on Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) on Sunday, accusing the Republicans, not the Democrats, of defunding police amid rising crime rates.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wallace pressed Banks on his position, outlined in a recent Fox News op-ed, that crime is surging because of the \u201cviolence\u201d of Black Lives Matter protests last year (but not the violent Capitol insurrection by Donald Trump supporters), and the \u201cdefund the police\u201d movement\u00a0he said Democrats supported.<\/p>\n
Banks again grumbled on \u201cFox News Sunday\u201d that Democrats have spent a year \u201cstigmatizing\u201d police and providing a \u201crecipe that criminals in every city in America are liking.\u201d<\/p>\n
But that got Wallace going, and he quickly accused Republicans of defunding law enforcement.<\/p>\n
Wallace pointed out that Republicans voted against President Joe Biden\u2019s $1.9 trillion\u00a0COVID relief American Rescue Plan, which includes a massive $350 billion for local law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n
Biden called the plan a \u201ccentral part of his anti-crime package,\u201d Wallace noted. \u201cCities and states can use this money to hire more police officers, invest in new technologies and develop summer job training and recreation programs for young people,\u201d Wallace pointed out to Banks.<\/p>\n