Debbie Wasserman Schultz blames Trump for DC National Guard shooting

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz accused President Donald Trump of bearing responsibility for the death of a National Guard member who was shot and killed on Wednesday.

Schultz appeared on CNN on Friday with host Sarah Sidner, where she questioned whether the shooting would have occurred without the recent deployment of military personnel. Schultz said the shooting “begs the question, would an individual have flown across the country to target law enforcement officers in Washington, D.C.? And, I mean, the answer is likely no. So, why wasn't the president’s first thought, 'Wow, you know, maybe I should reconsider deploying military troops in the nation’s capital or in any city?'”

She added, "Particularly not when they haven‘t coordinated closely with the leadership of these cities and when we have law enforcement that are quite capable of handling the criminal justice issues that are — that we need law enforcement to focus on, and not our military.”

The former DNC chair was one of several left-wing commentators who argued that the shooting occurred only because Trump had ordered National Guard members to be stationed in the nation’s capital. The Trump administration ordered the National Guard into Washington to address crime levels that had plagued the city for years. The deployment has appeared to be successful, as crime rates decreased, a shift acknowledged by Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, who admitted that the federal intervention had reduced crime.

The shooting on Wednesday was carried out by an Afghan national who entered the country under the Biden administration. The suspect targeted National Guard members, shooting two and killing one, with the other in critical condition. Following the attack, the Trump administration called for a halt on migration from the “third world.”

Sidner noted that “days before the shooting, the public learned through reporting that the Trump administration had planned to review and reinterview refugees that came in during the Biden administration."

"I just think that any administration needs to be careful about making sweeping generalizations," Wasserman Schultz responded. "If there were gaps that admitted this person, they would have failed over multiple levels of gaps. And this individual was trusted enough to participate in assisting our military during the war in Afghanistan."

"The president looks everywhere except inward to blame his own policies. We need to make sure that we don’t have our military deployed in our cities, doing — handling law enforcement responsibilities," Schultz added. "We certainly need to make sure we always have the proper and appropriate and tight, tight vetting processes, and those should be reviewed. But it’s never the president’s fault or his policies when it comes to his reaction, and it‘s pretty disgusting.”

According to Fox News, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson responded, "This animal would’ve never been here if not for Joe Biden’s dangerous policies, which allowed countless unvetted criminals to invade our country and harm the American people. The Trump administration is taking every measure possible — in the face of unrelenting Democrat opposition — to get these monsters out of our country and clean up the mess made by the Biden administration. Instead of defending terrorists, the Democrats should join us in protecting the American people.”