Psaki Accuses Republicans of Trying to ‘Defund’ Police by Voting Against Biden Stimulus

White House press secretary Jen Psaki argued Monday that Republicans were sought to defund the police by voting against President Joe Biden’s stimulus legislation.

She made the remark in response to a question from Fox News’ Peter Doocy at the daily White House press briefing. Doocy noted that White House adviser Cedric Richmond said over the weekend Republicans had defunded the police by voting against the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed in March.

Psaki replied that the proposal included funding for state and local governments, who Psaki said used the money to “keep cops on the beat.”

“That was sold as — these local police departments might have a pandemic-related budget shortfall,” Doocy said. “Not a ‘We need to keep cops on the beat because there’s a crime wave.'”

Psaki replied: “I think that any local department would argue that keeping cops on the beat to keep communities safe when they had to — because of budget shortfalls — fire police, is something that helped them address crime in their local communities.”

Doocy countered by insisting the White House sold the bill by focusing on the other items it funded — including $1,400 stimulus checks for individual Americans.

Watch above via ABC.