Chris Matthews says Democrats 'falling into a trap of defending what's indefensible' on crime

Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews said Wednesday that the Democratic Party was "falling into a trap of defending what's indefensible" in reacting to President Donald Trump's plan to address crime in Washington D.C. 

MSNBC "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski asked Matthews about the politics of Trump's announcement, describing it as a political win for the president before adding, "I think that the Democrats need to go beyond saying, 'No, look at the data, crime is going down.' I feel that is exactly the wrong response politically, even if it's true." 

Trump announced on Monday that he was activating approximately 800 National Guard troops and taking control of the Metropolitan Police Department to tackle crime in D.C.

Matthews criticized Trump for the Jan. 6 riots but said the move was about the president showing strength, before explaining that he lives in D.C. and that homelessness and graffiti were evident despite it being a beautiful city. 

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"Trump looks at the city visually like a real estate agent. He wants to beautify the city like he's doing at the White House with that ridiculous ballroom he's putting in and getting rid of the Rose Garden. That's Trump work," Matthews said. 

"But I think it shows strength… I think this is a strength move against the big cities who are in a difficult situation on crime. And the murder rate, you can't keep saying violent crime is down with the murder rates up. To the average person, the murders are about life and death. You don't brag about a rising murder rate. And the Democrats are, I agree with you, Mika, they're falling into the trap of defending what's indefensible," he added.

Brzezinksi agreed and said it was a "trap."

"Yes, it's a trap. If it's not a winner politically to say, 'Oh, you're wrong, look at the data,' because you know if one violent crime happens in a very heavily populated part of the city, people hear about it and it's visceral. They don't want it. And they'll gravitate to the person who appears to be doing something about it," she continued.

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Matthews recently praised Trump for his political skill during an interview on Charlie Rose's podcast. 

"He's very good at knowing your condition, your worries, your insecurities. I mean, he'd be a great bully in a grade school, a Catholic high school or grade school. I mean, he'd be the scariest bully because he'd know everybody's weakness. But he's really good at the moment. I mean, he's out there watching television and keeping up, and, 'Is this the right thing to do, what we're doing right now?'" he told Rose. 

"Biden couldn't do that in a million years, not a million years," Matthews added.

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