Biden campaign says he does not support defunding the police

[alp227]

Source: Axios

Joe Biden's campaign said in a statement Monday that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee does not support defunding police, but is pushing for police reform and more spending on community, school, health and social programs.

Why it matters: The statement rejects claims from President Trump's re-election campaign that the former vice president would undercut the ability of police departments to do their jobs by endorsing the "defund the police" message, which has been at the heart of activist demands over the past several weeks of protests.

Driving the news: “As his criminal justice proposal made clear months ago, Vice President Biden does not believe that police should be defunded," Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement. "He hears and shares the deep grief and frustration of those calling out for change, and is driven to ensure that justice is done and that we put a stop to this terrible pain."

Timing: The statement dropped immediately after the Trump campaign held a call with reporters that stressed the president opposes calls to defund the police and called on Biden to clarify his position.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/joe-biden-defund-police-7cd5aa47-57f3-4cd0-856b-0a68792f52cd.html

[LisaL]

1. Police reform.

That should be the message, not defunding.

[George II]

8. Yes, merely "defunding" will leave the situation that exists today, but on a smaller scale...

We need to REFORM the police, not blindly "defund".

[onetexan]

29. agree. The word "defund" misleads the general public. Reform is a much more fitting word.

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. It's unfortunate that he has to waste precious time making this statement, but it is

100% necessary.

[samsingh]

3. i'm glad he's supporting police reform - good phrasing so the trump-idiots can' misconstrue it

[LisaL]

5. So he does, as his message clearly states.

[samsingh]

10. i was agreeing. I should have been clearer in my response

[relayerbob]

4. De-militarize the police

[onetexan]

30. Yes, that should be part of reform.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

34. Yes

[OrlandoDem2]

6. Good! Stop using this phrase now!!! The phrase is awful for a nuanced policy.

[George II]

7. Calling to "defund the police" is a knee-jerk OVERreaction to what we're seeing in the US today...

Another set of those buzz words that are thrown out with no explanation of why or how to address the ramifications.

[Grasswire2]

9. Even our nominee doesn't get the label "DEFUND" -- it should be amended ASAP

The horse is out of the barn.

It's not going to be easy to change the label now. RW is already using it to terrify white folk.

[stillcool]

12. wow...the horse is not only out of the barn...it's dead.

stop flogging.

[Lulu KC]

48. Ha ha ha great line

Thank you. I actually slightly giggled! I NEED TO LAUGH MORE!

[Lulu KC]

20. +1,000,000 n/t

[BannonsLiver]

37. Meh

The Biden campaign handled it fine. The defeatists are going to find a new concern binky.

[LiberalArkie]

11. So more of the same then. I think we have been having police reform since at least the 1960's

[stillcool]

13. thank goodness..."we' aren't in charge..

or doing anything else.

[Blasphemer]

23. Alex Vitale has argued that defunding can only happen on the local level anyway

So, it's irrelevant what the federal level messaging is. Biden's message is politically safe so it makes sense. Defunding efforts should continue locally. Once people realize how effective it is, the national conversation will shift as well.

"And the Democrats really have nothing to offer. [Former President Barack] Obama’s address to the nation last night was horrible. It made him instantly irrelevant in the current conversation. He had nothing to offer people, except to trot out the same tired list of reforms that were implemented in Minneapolis and had no effect.

But at the local level, I’m more hopeful. We have these organizing campaigns all across the country to defund the police, to redirect resources into community needs. And these movements are growing and becoming more powerful. And policing is ultimately a local matter. It’s not a federal matter. So we can really make huge changes at the local level, no matter how messed up the situation in Washington is."

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/alex-s-vitale-american-policing-has-always-been-about-enforcing-white-supremacy_n_5ed934c2c5b69dee016ed79e?ncid=engmodushpmg00000003

[Doodley]

14. More to the point Trump wants to defund Obamacare and he wants to

at least partially defund Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Food Stamps, and disability assistance.

[mysteryowl]

15. I used to think that too, but then I learned about it.

I would suggest the Biden team look into what it is all about before saying they don't approve of it.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

16. +1

Reform needs to be ground up. That ain't gonna happen with the same players getting sensitivity training.

Now is the time for real reform.

[ibegurpard]

17. That's exactly how it should be stated

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

18. Funding or defunding police

is not a federal matter. That is up to each state, county, city etc. That is a subject I'd advise him to leave alone aside from remarks along the lines of 'police and their communities need to get along better' etc

[Lulu KC]

19. "Defund the police" needs an editor--or???

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but?
Did Putin come up with this tagline to create more fear?
NOBODY is saying "eliminate the police," which is what this sounds like. More accurate would be, "Reorganize responses to calls to police."
I am seeing family members who serve as my barometer for messaging having fits on FB.

Groaning. Just when I feeling a little hopeful.

[alp227]

25. That was written next to the "black lives matter" display on Washington

by protesters on 16th Street NW: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/06/07/dc-black-lives-matter-defund-police/

[Steelrolled]

31. Wonder if this is coming from Minneapolis City Council

I really don't know what it means in practical terms, but the opening line is:

A majority of the members of the Minneapolis City Council said Sunday they support disbanding the city’s police department, an aggressive stance that comes just as the state has launched a civil rights investigation after George Floyd’s death.

[JudyM]

35. BLM is advocating for defunding the police

based on a couple of interviews I watched.

[Steelrolled]

36. Do they know specifically what they mean by defunding?

[scarletwoman]

21. This is exactly what he has to say - REFORM, not defund. And it's how we have to say it, too.

We can't give an opening for the trumpists to claim that Dems want to get rid of cops and let lawlessness and anarchy rule our streets - because you know that's how they'll be painting it.

WE know what we mean by "defund the police" - but the actual meaning and intent behind that slogan are far too nuanced and complex for the closed minds who will instinctively react with fear and horror, imagining themselves being forced to live in a world of rampant crime with no law enforcement.

We do NOT want to scare off the suburban moms who have been edging away from trump.

[The Magistrate]

47. 'Police The Police!' Is Much The Better Slogan, Ma'am

It accurately reflects the sentiments of the great bulk of protesters in the streets, and of the mass who support them while not actively participating in the demonstrations.

It requires no explanation, and is damned hard to distort....

[BamaRefugee]

22. please please PLEASE Biden campaign, GET OUT IN FRONT of all of these things in like 10 minutes!

Biden has to have a "rapid response team" of smart people who can INSTANTLY message responses that are UNDERSTOOD BY A 4TH GRADER! Bumper sticker stuff.
Because that's the level of comprehension that a ton of the "swing" voters we NEED operate at.

The calm, collected, densely worded and intellectually stimulating responses can COME LATER!

This election is a knife fight, it's not 2 kindly gentlemen under a spreading oak tree debating in a scholarly manner.

[SKKY]

41. Why more candidates don't have this is beyond me. And if they do, I really...

...can't recall an instance where it worked out well. Even with Obama, it took him way too long to get out in front of the Jeremiah Wright fiasco. With Kerry, had he gotten out in front of the Swift Boaters, he may have won. But more to your point, yes, this is a knife fight, and we need to bring an Abrams tank.

[BamaRefugee]

42. thank you! we need a policy of Scorched Earth Benevolence! No Koombaya, no hands across the aisle

every time in history we reached out to them, they just pulled us into the pool and held us underwater.

[SKKY]

43. I generally prefer to take the high road...

...but with this jackass, we not only need to beat him, we need him and his whole clan to be absolutely humiliated to the point that his whole family are nothing more than an aberration that will take up three paragraphs max in our kids history books. And everyone who enabled him, (McConnell, Graham, Kennedy, etc), their legacies need to be permanently attached to his as well. I'm serious, I will honestly not feel satisfied unless, on November 2nd, I see Ivanka, Jared, Kellyanne, and Parscale bawling their eyes out. I want to see McConnel, Graham, and the rest of the enablers with the "What the fuck just happened?" looks on their faces as they realize their majority in the Senate is over. I don't want the total demise of the Republican party, because I think we need it. I want the total demise, and destruction, of the Trump Republican Party. And of those who never had the stones to stand up to him.

[elleng]

24. SO good to have a RATIONAL candidate.

[BannonsLiver]

39. Isn't it though?

I love how he swatted this away. I knew Joe wasn’t about to fall into the trap.

[ms liberty]

26. What he doesn't support is that term for the necessary actions

He probably supports the policies involved. Whoever came up with that as a descriptor should have their toys taken away until they've studied some more. That is a really bad way to frame it.

[soothsayer]

27. True, but it got attention

It’s getting the conversation going.

I’m not afraid for Biden on this one. Drumpf will have zero ideas on police reform.

[The Mouth]

28. Cheeto's idea of 'reform'

will be to give them more, and better weapons.

[InnocentOne]

32. Probably the smartest thing for him to say

[BannonsLiver]

38. Da!

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

33. Good

It's a losing issue.

[BannonsLiver]

40. So much concern and defeatism in the thread.

[GulfCoast66]

44. All he has to say is we need to de-militarize the police.

Even some folks on the right agree with that.

And everyone else sure as hell does.

[BamaRefugee]

45. Perfect . De-militarize the police. Short and sweet and to the point.

[Sapient Donkey]

46. Defund Police/Abolish Police are both wording that turns people off

There also seems to be no consensus on what those terms mean. To some, it literally means abolish all police and hope we can make a utopia in which no one commits any crime., To others it's about reforming the police, giving more funds to social programs, and creating different methods/departments for dealing with various situations that don't require armed brutes showing up, but acknowledge that sometimes we will have needs for traditional policing.

Focusing on reform that includes de-militarization, ending over-policing, supporting community programs, etc is something I would assume most decent people can support. The aggressiveness of police is something I've seen even conservatives argue against (at least some of them)

[Bengus81]

49. Great Biden!!! Defunding scheme is ridiculous..........

[ck4829]

50. Kick