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Opinion

PEEK OP-ED: Trump Sets Trap for Democrats on Crime, and They’re Walking Right Into It

posted by Hannity Staff - 9.24.25

By Liz Peek

Do Democrats really want to repeat their humiliating defeat of 1988? They might if they continue putting criminals ahead of citizens. President Donald Trump will make sure of it.

President Trump, whose political instincts are excellent (witness his turns serving fries at McDonald’s or driving a garbage truck during last year’s campaign), is pushing clueless Democrats into a trap. By sending the National Guard into Washington, D.C., and cleaning up our nation’s capital, he has shown what is possible. By resisting his offers to help their cities, Democratic officials in Illinois, California, New York and other blue states are telling their residents they care more about criminals than the people they represent. They will pay for that.

In the presidential election of 1988, Republican George H.W. Bush crushed his Democratic rival, winning 426 Electoral College votes to Michael Dukakis’ 111 — one of the worst drubbings of all time.

Bush portrayed his rival as soft on crime. The Republican nominee ran an infamous and highly effective TV ad saying Massachusetts Gov. Dukakis “…allowed first-degree murderers to have weekend passes from prison.” One example that was highlighted was Willie Horton, who murdered a boy in a robbery, stabbing him 19 times. Despite a life sentence, Horton received 10 weekend passes from prison. Horton fled, kidnapped a young couple, stabbing the man and repeatedly raped his girlfriend. The ad concluded: “Weekend prison passes — Dukakis on crime.”

Some say the ad, which also featured a chilling photo of Horton, changed the course of criminal justice in America, leading to more than a decade of ‘tough on crime’ policies.

Bill Keller, editor-in-chief of The Marshall Project, a group dedicated to criminal justice reform, said the ad “taught Democrats that this was an issue where they had to be more Catholic than the Pope; tougher than tough.”

Six years later, President Bill Clinton followed through by signing the 1994 Crime Bill, which called for nearly $10 billion to build more prisons and add 100,000 police officers. The bill was largely written by Delaware Democrat, then-Sen. Joe Biden.

Democrats have forgotten the lesson of 1988. They argue that after a spike during thepost-COVID years, crime is down, but voters aren’t buying it. A recent AP poll shows two-thirds of Americans think crime is a major problem. Some 81% see it as a major concern in cities, including 96% of Republicans and even 68% of Democrats.

Bottom line: After decades of backing crime-busting policies and watching the number of violent offenses drop, Democrats have gone soft again.

Led by former President Joe Biden, they have worked to reverse the impact of the 1994 bill, endorsing cashless bail, shielding juveniles from being charged as adults for even the most heinous crimes, and allowing petty criminals to get off scot-free.

Some, like California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, also advocate closing prisons. Asked in 2020 whether he thought prisons were obsolete, then-New York state Assemblyman Mamdani replied: “I think that frankly — I mean — what purpose do they serve? I think that we have to ask ourselves that.”

Newsom has already closed four prisons in California and wants to shutter a fifth, despite more than two-thirds of voters approving Proposition 36, a measure demanding tougher treatment and longer sentences for certain crimes.

Democratic officials in cities like New York make it nearly impossible for cops to do their jobs, discouraging law enforcement by releasing repeat offenders back onto the streets, all but encouraging them to reoffend.

The breakdown of law and order is promoted by judges who side with criminals and district attorneys who refuse to prosecute crimes. Judges like New York’s Jeffrey Gershuny, an appointee of Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio, recently released—defying prosecutors’ requests—a criminal on parole who had already been arrested 34 times for robbery. Thirty-four! And D.A.s like Alvin Bragg, who, on his first day in office, published a long list of offenses he would ignore, including fare-skipping, trespassing, resisting arrest and prostitution.

In protesting Bragg’s announcement, the head of New York’s police union said, “There are already too many people who believe that they can commit crimes, resist arrest, interfere with police officers and face zero consequences.”

Democrats are committing the gravest of political sins: not listening to their voters. In Chicago, Brandon Johnson was elected mayor two years ago in a race dominated by concerns about safety; 71% of voters listed crime as their top issue, far outranking jobs or anything else. Despite his previous “defund the police” rhetoric and promises to cut law enforcement spending, Johnson won.

Today, he and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker are refusing President Trump’s offer to help rein in Chicago’s horrific crime. Johnson recently argued, “Jails and incarceration and law enforcement is a sickness that has not led to safe communities.” No wonder he has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the U.S.

He’s not alone in sounding foolish. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, says committing a crime does not make someone a criminal, while colleague Rep. Jamie Raskin. D-Md., says he opposes Trump’s crackdown because “crime has always been part of our history.” Does that comfort the victims?

In 2028, the GOP candidate for president could well repeat history by running an ad showing the horrifying murder of Iryna Zarutska, the Ukrainian refugee who sought safety in the United States only to be fatally stabbed by suspected assailant Decarlos Brown Jr. Brown had been arrested at least 14 times and had served time for crimes including felony larceny, armed robbery and assault. He also has a history of mental illness.

Voters will ask: Why was he not locked up? Why did Zarutska have to die because woke judges and prosecutors prioritized their social justice crusade over her life?

Just as in 1988, Democrats will have no answers.

Liz Peek is a Fox News contributor and former partner of major bracket Wall Street firm Wertheim & Company. A former columnist for the Fiscal Times, she writes for The Hill and contributes frequently to Fox News, the New York Sun and other publications. For more visit LizPeek.com. Follow her on Twitter @LizPeek.