Former President Donald Trump vowed to make over the nation’s capital if he wins the election, bashing the current state of Washington, D.C. as a “rat-infested, graffiti-infested sh*thole.”
During a campaign rally in Iowa, just ahead of the critical first Republican caucus, Trump promised he would clean up the “horribly run” city and even seemed to suggest taking over Mayor Muriel Bowser’s job.
“We will take over the horribly run capital of our nation. Horribly run,” the GOP frontrunner said Sunday.
“We have a capital that we all love. Right now, it is a rat-infested, graffiti-infested sh*thole where people are being killed,” Trump told the crowd.
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“Homicides jumped by 35 percent in 2023 in Washington while car thefts and carjackings both essentially doubled. The carjacking victims in D.C. last year included a U.S. Congressmen (sic) and a diplomat from the United Arab Emirates,” according to the Associated Press.
“Violent crime jumped in several American cities during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. But while homicides have dropped post-pandemic in places like New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and Baltimore, the trends have only accelerated in Washington,” the report added.
Trump vowed to “clean up” the city where the Democrat mayor was elected to three consecutive terms.
“We are going to take it away from the mayor. That does not make me popular there, but I have to say it,” he said.
“We have to run our capital incredibly. We have to take the graffiti off those magnificent marble columns all over the city where they have swastikas printed on them, where they have the names of people who have hearts. People who are in love and they write a heart,” he continued.
In recent months, activists have taken to defacing property in protest against the US government’s support for Israel.
In our backyard: “Death to Israel” and “Glory to our Martyrs,” among other violent antisemitic graffiti spotted in Washington DC. #WhereIsTheOutrage pic.twitter.com/WWWuDrULNe
— Embassy of Israel to the USA (@IsraelinUSA) November 4, 2023
“We are going to clean up our capital, we are going to knock out the slums. We have slums. We are going to have the most beautiful capital in the world,” the former president promised.
Trump’s criticism of the nation’s capital is not the first as he and Bowser have traded verbal barbs over the years.
After a court appearance last summer, he told reporters it was “very sad to drive through Washington, D.C. and seeing the filth and the decay, and all of the broken buildings and walls and the graffiti. This is not the place that I left.”
“Robberies were up 67% last year,” WUSA reported on D.C.’s staggering numbers, “with 3,470 people reporting having been robbed in 2023. Vehicle thefts were up a whopping 82% with 6,829 people reporting a stolen vehicle. Arsons, which are generally uncommon, were up 175% with 11 reported cases in 2023 up from only four in 2022.”
“With 40 homicides for every 100,000 residents, D.C. ranked fifth nationally for per-capita murder rates. The numbers are 36% higher than those seen in 2022,” the outlet added.
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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