CNN Analyst Says Democrats Need to Address Violent Crime: ‘Deal With it Or Risk Political Backlash’

CNN’s John Avlon said Thursday Democrats need to focus on solving “violent crime” if they want to win in 2022.

The CNN analyst made the point in a New Day monologue about Wednesday’s shooting in San Jose, California, where a gunman killed nine people before killing himself. The deadly event marked the 232nd mass shooting in America this year. “This death toll is taking place against a broader backdrop, because violent crime increased in the nation’s cities last year after decades of decline, and it’s showing no signs of showing,” Avlon noted. “Major American city sites saw a stunning 33 percent increase in murder last year. Contrast that with the steep and steady murder decline America saw between 1991 and 2014.”

“You’d be forgiven for asking, ‘What the hell is going on here?'” Avlon said. He argued that the spike in violence was also an issue under former President Donald Trump — and groused that Republicans in Congress wouldn’t support gun-control legislation pitched by Democrats — but said Democrats competing in next year’s midterm elections would have a hard time blaming Trump if they failed to solve the problem.

“Republicans can turn rising crime into a culture war wedge issue,” he added. “And as we turn the corner into summer, with its usual increase in violent crime, public safety is again front and center in people’s minds. … And Democrats are going to have to deal with it, or risk political backlash.”

Watch above via CNN.