'It's not a yes or no question' Karine Jean-Pierre bizarrely responds when asked if big cities are safe: Press Secretary DEFENDS Biden's record on violence during grilling on Jen Psaki's claim crime is a 'big issue' for Democrats

  • 'The crime is complicated and multi-faceted,' the press secretary said when asked about the safety of U.S. cities
  • '[Biden] inherited a rising crime rate from the previous administration,' Jean-Pierre added
  •  'It's not a yes or no question,' the press secretary said. 'It is very much a question of, what is he done?'
  • Murder in large cities has slightly ticked down by four percent in 2022, but remains 30 percent above 2019 levels 
  • Shootings nationwide have fallen two percent from last year, but not enough to undo the sharp uptick in violent crime in 2020 and 2021 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did not have a straight answer on Monday for whether or not U.S. cities are 'safe' amid a spike in crime over the past few years. 

'The crime is complicated and multi-faceted,' the press secretary said when asked about the safety of U.S. cities.  

'[Biden] inherited a rising crime rate from the previous administration,' Jean-Pierre added. She noted that Republicans voted against the American Rescue Plan, which included $300 billion for state and local governments and could be used to hire more police officers. 

'So back to the original question, does President Biden's think America's big cities are safe?' Fox News' Peter Doocy asked the press secretary.

'It's not a yes or no question,' she replied. 

'It is very much a question of, what is he done?,' Jean-Pierre continued. 'What matters is that we have the funding and we have done the work, put the policy forward.'

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did not have a straight answer on Monday for whether or not U.S. cities are 'safe' amid a spike in crime over the past few years

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did not have a straight answer on Monday for whether or not U.S. cities are 'safe' amid a spike in crime over the past few years

'The crime is complicated and multi-faceted,' the press secretary said when asked about the safety of U.S. cities

'The crime is complicated and multi-faceted,' the press secretary said when asked about the safety of U.S. cities

Murder in large cities has slightly ticked down by four percent in 2022, but remains 30 percent above 2019 levels. Shootings nationwide have fallen two percent from last year, but not enough to undo the sharp uptick in violent crime in 2020 and 2021. 

Homicide rates shot up amid the chaos of Covid-19 lockdowns and after a wave of sometimes-violent protests against police brutality and racial injustice in the summer of 2020. Those on the right blamed liberals for the 'defund the police' movement and soft-on-crime policies like cash-free bail. 

Still, murder rates are below the high of the early 1990s, when over 9 people out of 100,000 were falling victim to murder. Today that number sits at about 6.6 people per 100,000. 

Other types of crime are still on the rise. Thefts and robberies are up 20 percent for the first half of 2022 from last year, after falling or remaining the same for the previous two years, according to the Council on Criminal Justice. 

Jean-Pierre's comments come after her predecessor Jen Psaki said on MSNBC over the weekend that crime could be a 'huge vulnerability' for Democrats. 

Psaki predicted Sunday that the issue of crime would continue to weigh Democrats down - citing Republican efforts in the Pennsylvania Senate race, where ex-Braddock Mayor and current Lt. Governor John Fetterman is facing off against Trump-backed celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Speaking of the left, she said: 'They also know that crime is a huge vulnerability for Democrats, I would say one of the biggest vulnerabilities.'

'In Pennsylvania, Republicans have been spending millions of dollars on the air on crime ads against Fetterman, because that's where they see vulnerabilities,' Psaki claimed.

'So yes, the economy is hanging over everything, but you have do have look at state-by-state factors and crime is a huge issue in the Pennsylvania race.'

'Jen Psaki says that crime is a huge vulnerability for Democrats.' Why would she say that?' Doocy asked Jean-Pierre on Monday. 

'I don't agree with your characterization of what she actually said,' the press secretary shot back.  

Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, now an MSNBC host, weighed in on Democrats' midterm election prospects during a Meet The Press panel discussion

Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, now an MSNBC host, weighed in on Democrats' midterm election prospects during a Meet The Press panel discussion

Serial stabber who killed two homeless people sleeping on benches in Manhattan parks is arrested and walked into Central Booking

Serial stabber who killed two homeless people sleeping on benches in Manhattan parks is arrested and walked into Central Booking

On Thursday the House voted to pass bipartisan legislation to increase funding for local police departments

On Thursday the House voted to pass bipartisan legislation to increase funding for local police departments

On Thursday the House voted to pass bipartisan legislation to increase funding for local police departments, to create a grant program to train and dispatch mental health professionals in emergencies related to behavioral health and to fund grants to communities for violence intervention and prevention. It's not clear whether the bill will make it through the Senate, which last month passed a different police funding bill. 

The first bill in the package that increased police funding only narrowly squeaked by due to progressive opposition. Democratic moderates had been growing increasingly frustrated as a vote on police funding was pushed to the side, looking for a tough-on-crime win to take home to their conservative-leaning districts ahead of midterm elections. 

A new CBS News battleground tracker poll suggests rising crime is a top issue for nearly 7 in 10 voters this year - and that they believe the GOP has an edge of how to solve it.

Republicans have made crime, along with inflation and the southern border, one of the central pillars of their race to take back control of the House and Senate in midterm elections. 

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