Focus groups of Democratic voters out of Philadelphia have indicated that crime and safety are a top concern going into November’s midterm elections, MSNBC reports. And that network’s own “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough had something to say about it Friday.
Railing on the city’s “woke DAs” who are “saying they don’t have a crime problem” and the progressives at large saying that residents are exaggerating the truth of the city’s crime rate, Scarborough lamented that “progressives on crime in places like Philadelphia and New York are so extraordinarily clueless. It’s maddening.”
Sitting with a focus group of Black voters from Philadelphia, MSNBC correspondent Elise Jordan reported with footage aired on Friday’s “Morning Joe” that she “was taken aback by just how strongly participants felt about what they perceive as the rise in crime.”
“And it’s also not just a perception,” Jordan said. “You can look at the numbers, specifically, in the city of Philadelphia.”
Cutting to footage of her sitting with four voters of diverse ages and genders, Jordan asked the focus group: “Who thinks that crime potentially impacting you or your family is the greatest fear you face right now?” She was met with an unanimous response of “absolutely.”
“To me, it’s outrageous, the number of people being killed to the number of politicians that won’t pass civil gun laws,” said one male participant. “And you know why it’s happening because they’re being paid to look the other way when it comes to passing gun laws. But we end up and our children end up paying the price.”
A female voter in the group said, “We don’t even know going home today how we’re gonna feel, whether you’re driving or on public transportation, what’s gonna happen.”
Cutting back to the studio with Scarborough and co-host Mika Brzezinski, the “Morning Joe” team was clearly riled up from the group’s feedback.
“That is dark,” Brzezinski said.
“That is so jarring, and we hear it everywhere,” Scarborough said. “We hear it from Philadelphia to New York to San Francisco.”
He then cited an Oklahoma debate from earlier this week in which the Democratic candidate said crime was higher per capita there than in New York City, “and was laughed off the stage,” despite that actually being the case.
“There’s a massive crime wave, and, you know, yes it does fall on both parties,” Scarborough said before digging into the shortcomings of the left. “But when you have woke DAs in Philadelphia basically saying they don’t have a crime problem, when you have cops quitting left and right in Philadelphia because … they’re not going to risk their lives so they can arrest people who are going to be out on the street the next day. And then you have progressives telling people in Philadelphia, telling these people, ‘Oh, you’re wrong, don’t believe your lying eyes, Don’t believe the fact – there’s something wrong with you for being afraid to go to work. There’s something wrong with you for being afraid to go home,’ as they were talking about right there.
“Progressives on crime in places like Philadelphia and New York are so extraordinarily clueless,” he concluded. “It’s maddening. And yet, you see it in these focus groups.”
Jordan agreed with Scarborough, saying that putting up blinders to the rise in crime in cities like Philadelphia is simply condescending.
“To tell people who feel the threat and live the threat on their day-to-day going to work trying to just live their lives, it’s condescending to tell them that what they’re imagining really isn’t so bad,” she said.
Watch the full segment and focus group in the video above.
