Why Trump, MAGA Can’t Stand Washington DC

But they still want to control it.

Donald Trump, during his latest unhinged hate rally, praised future running mate Hannibal Lecter and attacked the nation’s Capital … again, but this time with racist smears instead of a racist mob.

“We will take over the horribly run capital of our country in Washington DC,” Trump said. “... right now if you leave Florida — 'oh, let's go darling, let's look at the Jefferson Memorial' ... and you end up getting shot, mugged, raped. We’re gonna take over our capital and we're gonna run it tough and smart.”

The Jefferson Memorial isn’t far from the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, which most MAGA supporters would skip anyway, but that doesn’t mean the area is suddenly so crime ridden tourists are at risk of being stabbed, shot, strangled, suffocated, and bludgeoned

---

---

Republicans loathe Washington, DC. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, future Secretary of State in another Trump administration, posted on social media in 2022, “Washington DC is a crime ridden hell hole. Congress should revoke Home Rule. Our nation’s Capital is an embarrassment.” The District of Columbia “Home Rule” allows residents to govern local affairs themselves, although Congress retains the power to overrule the people who actually live in the District. Republicans attempted to overrule local police reforms, which President Joe Biden vetoed last year.

Congress members, especially Republicans, often brag about spending as little time in DC as possible, and Trump’s comments about the Jefferson Memorial reinforce the irony that Republicans think tourists and political commuters should have more say in how the city’s run than people who live there full time.

This should only shock you if you’re somehow unaware that everything Majorie Taylor Greene says is either a lie or just bone-dead stupid, but Washington DC is not a “crime-ridden hell hole.” OK, there’s a convincing argument for the “hell” part during the summer when the heat index is around 94 degrees. Humidity in Washington DC has gotten progressively worse over the past 50 years, increasing five to 10 percent since 1970, but that’s because of climate change not progressivism. (Greene believes climate change is “natural” and clean energy initiative are a “scam,” hence my point about how she’s bone-dead stupid.) However, after a disturbing 2023, DC’s crime rates have decreased this year by a significant amount: Homicides are down 21 percent; armed assault is down 27 percent; robberies are down 23 percent.

We can’t expect Trump or Greene to bother with numbers. It’s all about how their personal lizard brains feel. Of course, elected officials probably experience DC at its safest, unless they’re hiding from Trump’s violent mob.

Why do Republicans hate DC so much?

Republicans consistently deride DC, but they don’t like cities in general, especially those that are under Democratic control. Even when New York had a Republican mayor in the 1990s (you might have heard of him), Rudy Giuliani led more like a military general overseeing the occupation of a hostile territory.

However, special contempt is reserve for DC. Some of it is a reflexive, right-wing rejection of government. “Normal” people live in the “heartland,” and DC is the home of bureaucrats and lobbyists. Of course, in reality, Republican politicians are desperate to escape their quaint suburban homes for DC, where all the political action is, and once elected, you often have to drag them out of DC on a stretcher with an ambulance waiting.

I spent some time in DC a couple weeks ago. It remains one of my favorite cities, perhaps vaulting past New York where we had to take cabs everywhere because the subway is completely inaccessible for our child. There’s a lot to enjoy about DC — beautiful green spaces, wonderful architecture, free museums, and great restaurants. Oh, and all the Metrorail stations are wheelchair accessible, with working elevators straight out of the 21st Century.

We didn’t feel any Taxi Driver vibes while walking through Adams Morgan at night, either. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced in 2022 that homelessness had decreased by 47 percent — a 17-year low — since the implementation of her administration’s Homeward DC plan. Homelessness did appear far less visible than when we last visited in 2018.

These facts won’t change Republicans’ feelings, and that’s why we must address the racist elephant in the room. George Clinton once described DC as the “Chocolate City” because of its majority Black population. (This happened during the mid-1950s when white residents flew off for the suburbs.)

Back in the 1970s, when the Clinton song dropped, DC’s Black population was around 70 percent. It’s now about 40 percent, decreasing almost 20 percent since 2000. The white population is about 38 percent now. Usually white people talk up gentrifying communities, but DC still gets a bad rep.

DC still has a vibrant Black middle class, though, which stands in stark contrast to New York, for instance. People often criticize the overwhelming whiteness of New York-based sitcoms like Seinfeld and Friends, but in my experience, there is a distinct economic-based racial segregation in the city. When I first moved to New York in 1996, my working class apartment building had a fair number of Black and Hispanic residents. (My next-door neighbor was François Clemmons from Mister Rogers.) By the time, I’d moved on up to a deluxe doorman building in Murray Hill, I was literally the only Black person in the building.

Yet, in DC, Black people are everywhere. They’re in the swanky bars and fancy restaurants. If you’re a white person who takes economic-based racial segregation for granted, you’re likely to find DC uncomfortable. The same is true for Atlanta, whose Black population is also decreasing, and it’s probably not a coincidence that Marjorie Taylor Greene lived in Alpharetta, a significantly whiter Atlanta suburb. Greene is certainly no fan of New York, which she’s called “disgusting,” “filthy,” “repulsive” and a “terrible place,” but when she visits the city, it’s probably not that hard for her to avoid minorities.

DC is still too black for self-governance

Last December, Trump said DC “has become a dirty, crime-ridden death trap that must be taken over and properly run by the federal government.” The Republican platform reinforces his plans to “take over” the Capital (amazing how a convicted felon who incited an attack on the Capital is still free to make this a policy position in the presidential race he might actually win).

The platform declares, “Republicans will reassert greater Federal Control over Washington, DC to restore Law and Order in our Capital City.” Without any irony or acknowledge of January 6, Republicans claim they’ll “ensure Federal Buildings and Monuments are well-maintained.”

If DC’s crime rates are an outlier among comparatively sized cities, the problem is most likely the District’s lack of autonomy and the need to coordinate between local and federal agencies. However, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton legitimately fears Trump’s “take over” of the Chocolate City.

“I think he would do all he could to keep statehood from happening, but also to roll back Home Rule,” she said. “There’s no question in my mind that if he were to gain control of the presidency again, we could lose most of the control we have over the city now.”

Everything bad will only get worse if Trump regains power.

I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for $80 a year or just $8 a month, if you’re not already. This helps sustain the newsletter and keeps all the content free for everyone.

Follow Stephen Robinson on Bluesky and Threads.

Subscribe to his YouTube channel for more fun content.