Sunday Political Talk Show interviews during 2020-2024: on Crime

Chris Christie: If Trump is convicted, I can't imagine pardoning him

Doug Burgum: Tightened rules on civil asset forfeiture; curtailed police

Will Hurd: Defunding the police isn't the answer, follow best practices

Joe Biden: Support common-sense police reforms like banning chokeholds

"While I do not support every provision of the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022," President Biden wrote in his veto message, "this resolution from congressional Republicans would overturn common sense police reforms such as: banning chokeholds; setting important restrictions on use of force and deadly force; improving access to body-worn camera recordings; and requiring officer training on de-escalation and use of force."

Kamala Harris: Don't defund police; reimagine public safety

In a June 2020 radio interview, one host asked Harris, "Where do you stand on defund the police?"

Harris said, "Defund the police, the issue behind it is we need to reimagine how we are creating safety. When you have many cities that have 1/3 of their entire city budget focused on policing, we know that is not the smart way. For too long, the status quo thinking has been you get more safety by putting more cops on the street. Well, that's wrong."

Harris said suburban communities "don't have police walking those streets," but what they do have is well-funded schools & thriving small businesses. "This whole movement is about rightly saying we need to take a look at these budgets and figure out whether it reflects the right priorities," Harris said.

Donald Trump: You can't teach a criminal not to be a criminal

Indeed, it often seems as if the Republican Party is wholly unaware of the fact that it has a criminal leading its 2024 ticket. Trump himself recently declared with confidence, "You're not going to teach a criminal not to be a criminal," as if the maxim were just common sense. A day later, the former president echoed the line at an unrelated event.

"A criminal is a criminal," the GOP nominee said. "They generally stay a criminal and we do not have time to figure it out."

Tim Walz: George Floyd protests: balance racial justice & public order

Walz publicly backed "swift justice" for the officers involved in Floyd's murder, drawing the ire of the state's police groups. He lamented that the protests and property damage taking over the streets were "symbolic of decades and generations of pain, of anguish unheard," and a response to a loss of trust in institutions like the police that he as a "white man" couldn't fully understand. He announced a state civil rights investigation into the Minneapolis Police Dept. and carried out symbolic actions like issuing a proclamation for 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence.

At the same time, Walz activated the National Guard to deal with protests over Floyd's murder, which he dubiously claimed were 80% out-of-state troublemakers.

Tim Walz: Police reforms: ban chokeholds; investigate misconduct

Walz signed a limited police reform bill into law at the height of the protests, banning chokeholds & "warrior" training techniques and mandating training for police and a duty to report on fellow officers using excessive force. It also created a statewide investigatory unit for, and a database for public records on, police misconduct.

Despite vowing to "burn political capital" to make it happen, further reform efforts died in the gridlocked legislature, and the cycle of police violence and protest has continued long after Floyd's death. Deaths at the hands of law enforcement in the state are still at elevated levels.

Kamala Harris: As a prosecutor, I have put a lot of people in jail

KAMALA HARRIS: I have put a lot of people in jail. I have personally prosecuted everything from, you know, child sexual assault to homicides. And then as attorney general, transnational criminal organization which I took on as a leader.

HOWARD STERN: So when you went after gang members, were you ever directly threatened by these people? They said, hey, you better just shut this down or you're going to get it.

KAMALA HARRIS: I've definitely had death threats. I don't generally talk about them.

HOWARD STERN: Right. Why don't you talk about it? Because you don't want to encourage any kind of nuts out there or is it because it just is too hard to confront.

KAMALA HARRIS: I refuse to live in fear of the bad guys.

Donald Trump: Our country is now a cesspool of crime

The former president painted a picture of a bleak and dystopian country, highlighting instances of civilians being attacked in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere.

He called for police squad cars to be parked on every corner. Trump called for passing laws to give police more authority and strengthen qualified immunity so law enforcement does not fear repercussions.

He called for a "no-holds-barred national campaign to dismantle gangs and organized street crime in America." The former president called for efforts to defeat violence "and be tough and be nasty and be mean if we have to."

"We're living in such a different country for one primary reason: There is no longer respect for the law, and there certainly is no order. Our country is now a cesspool of crime," Trump said. 

Donald Trump: One violent day by police would eradicate crime immediately

"President Trump has always been the law and order President and he continues to reiterate the importance of enforcing existing laws," the campaign's communications director wrote in a statement to POLITICO. "Otherwise it's all-out anarchy, which is what Kamala Harris has created in some of these communities across America."

Trump has a long history of endorsing police violence, having said that police reaction to the racial unrest in response to the murder of George Floyd in 2020 "was a beautiful thing to watch." In a 2017 speech, he said: "When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon--rough, I said, 'Please don't be too nice.'"