Former New York City Police Department Commissioner Bernard Kerik told Newsmax Tuesday that Black and Latino communities "want more police" and do not want their local agencies defunded because they are impacted the most by rising crime.
"The people that are impacted the most by the increased violent crime, and the increased shootings, in the increased murder rate, are the people in the Black and Latino communities," Kerik said during "John Bachman Now" Tuesday. "That's why they don't want defunding. That's why they want more police.
"If you talk to the real community leaders in those communities, not the activists, not the lunatics on the far left, not the people on the outside that come into these communities and stir havoc that can create chaos, not them, but the real community leaders, they know what it takes to create safety and security in their communities, and it takes the police to be there."
Kerik said those traditionally Democrat voters will be voting for more security and safety in November.
He said that until the mayors and prosecutors that are soft on crime are voted out, things will get worse, including deadly attacks on police officers, which have risen year over year for the last two years.
"These are going to continue until you have real leaders that call it out. These are going to be real incidents until true leaders in the positions of mayor, police chiefs, governors, until they start enforcing the law, put prosecutors in place to enforce the law," Kerik said.
"We have radical left-wing, staunch left-wing, radical prosecutors in a number of cities that are run by Democrats around the country, and they're not enforcing the law and need to be called out. It sends a message. They've got to be called out. They've got to be voted out."
One indication on how the country may be feeling about rising crime is the disparity between some Democratic candidates who are embracing the defunding police ideology, while President Joe Biden and others are moving toward more police funding.
Wisconsin Democratic Senate candidate Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes did not appear with Biden on Monday during a speech in that state because he said he was "engaged in other events honoring workers across the state," the Daily Mail reported.
Barnes is looking to defeat incumbent GOP Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson in November.
"The lieutenant governor appreciates the president coming to Wisconsin to honor the labor movement in our state," Barnes' Communications Director Maddy McDaniel told DailyMail.com when asked why he was not present. "Mandela walked in the Milwaukee parade and then went to support Wisconsin workers at events across the state, including in Racine where UAW Local 180 has been on strike for over 100 days."
Kerik said, however, that Barnes, who supports defunding the police and abolishing ICE, did not want to appear with Biden.
"I don't care who you are. If you're running for state office, federal office, and the president of the United States comes into your jurisdiction, there's no conflicts, you go. You're there. You're with the president," Kerik said.
"In this case, Barnes made sure that his schedule conflicted with the president, and he took off running. He ran because he doesn't want to be seen with the president. That's the bottom line. That's the only excuse."
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