FOX 24 US
President Donald Trump went off on a long, strange tangent where repeatedly expressed revulsion at the state of “blue cities” during an event in the Oval Office on Monday afternoon.
“What do they have in common? They’re all dirty. They’re filthy, dirty,” Trump said, adding, “Their streets are dirty. Their streets smell. Their storefronts are broken. Their trees are all gross. Everything about the place is dirty.”
Trump went on to specify that he didn’t “want to mention any specific city.”
“It’s really all of them,” he said.
Trump’s attack on the homes of a large segment of the American populace came at an event that was ostensibly about a commission for military spouses. After signing an executive order establishing the group, Trump took questions from reporters. His tirade about “blue cities” came when he was asked about the ever-shifting state of talks to end the Iran War. Trump said he is “under no time constraints” to conclude the conflict that he initially predicted would end months ago. He contrasted this with his Republican colleagues who are currently facing elections and said they are running against a “sick ideology.” He rattled off various leftist proposals including Supreme Court reform and abolishing the Senate that he predicted would “destroy the country.” From there, Trump totally went off.
“These are sick people,” he said. “When a country goes bad, like, look at the blue cities. What do they have in common aside from massive crime? Much more crime. The Republicans have very little crime. But what do the blue cities have? … And also you can see this with nations when they go bad — the blue cities have something in common — crime, high crime, vicious, violent crime.”
Earlier on in the event, a reporter from one of the right-wing outlets that the Trump administration has added to the press corps praised the president’s redecorating efforts in Washington, D.C., which have included the controversial White House ballroom and the algae-plagued Reflecting Pool renovation.
A reporter also asked Trump if he would consider trying to “federalize” the capital city. Trump mused about the idea while praising his own work in the district.
“Would I federalize basically, you’re saying federalize D.C.? Well, I’m allowed to do that. Would I do that? If they wanted,” Trump said before trailing off and turning to the changes he has made in the city.
“We took something that was in deep trouble. It was a graffiti-filled, crime-filled mess.We turned it into Shangri-La. We turned it into a great place,” he said, adding, “Look at the grass in front of the White House being all replaced with the top stuff. … Scott’s Miracle Gro. They’re doing it. … Got to give them a plug because they did the White House for free.”
Trump returned to D.C. later on when he reiterated his disagreement with U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s conclusion that damage to the Reflecting Pool was caused by shoddy contracting work rather than vandalism. The president repeated his highly questionable claim the pool was targeted and argued Pirro had “choked” by dropping the Justice Department’s case against a former Olympian for allegedly damaging it. He also brought up the capital city during his rant about the “blue cities.”
“They’re like Washington, D.C. was a year and a half ago with graffiti all over the place, with crime all over the place, with people afraid to be here. You had to be ashamed of your capital,” said Trump. “Some of the most beautiful buildings built in the real time. Like, you look at the Supreme Court building, and they put graffiti on it. The most beautiful columns I’ve ever seen. … You look at those columns, how magnificent and then you see graffiti on the side of the building.”
Data actually shows red states have higher crime than blue states on average. Large cities in red states, many of which have Democratic local governments, have the highest murder rates. However, it’s not as though Trump was doing any kind of detailed analysis. He concluded his screed by declaring the blue city ideology is “not going to happen in our country.”
“The one thing they all have in common: crime. Two things, crime, but they’re disgusting. They’re filthy, dirty,” Trump said, adding, “The streets are dirty. They have people lying all over the street doing you know what.”
