‘Morning Joe’ on Slain NYPD Officer: Of Course, Donald Trump ‘Making It Political,’ Crime Is Down Across the Country

GEIST: “Meanwhile, guys, former President Donald Trump also in New York yesterday to attend the wake of an NYPD officer killed the other day in the line of duty. Trump met with the family of Officer Jonathan Diller yesterday during the memorial service on Long Island where hundreds of law enforcement officers were on hand to pay their respects. Officer Diller was shot and killed on Monday while approaching an illegally parked car in Queens. Police say the suspect in the shooting has nearly two dozen previous arrests. After meeting with Officer Diller’s family, who invited Trump to the service, Trump spoke to reporters outside describing the officer’s death as a horrible thing and calling for a return to law and order. Trump has accused President Biden of not being tough enough on crime, and his campaign looked to contrast his visit with Biden’s fundraiser in New York City with former presidents Obama and Clinton. Jonathan Lemire, just a horrific tragedy. Officer Diller killed, has a 1-year-old child at home. A rally of support around the city, across the country for Officer Diller, paying off his mortgage, making sure his family is taken care of, but a reminder that there’s no such thing — I’m always reminded by cops — as a routine traffic stop, as this was just a pullover in Queens, and Officer Diller was shot and killed.”
LEMIRE: “Yeah, each officer starts each day not knowing if it will be their last shift on the job. I covered the NYPD for a long time and covered a lot of funerals just like this. It’s a remarkable outpouring of support from the community and the nation when something like this happens. But of course, because he’s Donald Trump, he’s making it political. Look, his aides were very clear yesterday that they liked this split screen of President Biden being at Radio City Music Hall with two other presidents for a big-dollar glitzy fundraiser, while Donald Trump was out in Queens and then on Long Island meeting with the family of a slain officer. We’ll get into it later in the day how Trump also spent the rest of his day attacking the daughter of the judge, but at least in this moment he tried to stay on message, Jeff Mason, and talk about crime. Trump and Republicans are trying to make crime a central issue this election, which we should note stats show that crime has actually fallen most places in this country over the last couple of years since its post-pandemic high, but just the politics of crime — and we should note President Biden called Mayor Adams to express condolences about the slain officer — how worried are Democrats that this could be an issue that resonates this November?”
MASON: “I think Democrats think they have their own case to make on crime. President Biden has been very, very active in working on gun violence issues. He started an office at the White House on gun violence, and they see that as completely connected to crime in a way that Republicans don’t like to make that connection. So, I think you can also look back at some previous elections, 2022, 2020, where Republicans were talking a lot about crime ahead of time, and then it didn’t resonate as much at the polls as they were expecting. So, you know, I think it’s an issue that Republicans will see as a vulnerability, and you certainly see President Trump trying to make it one for the Democrats, but I think they’re ready.”