New York City has been the target of Republican smears for several years now. To hear some conservatives tell it, the city's streets are overrun by violent crime, rats and drugs.
Of course, those hysterical claims are false. In fact, the garbage I'm most concerned about piling up in our city is the trash theories House Republicans are slated to toss out at their field hearing in Manhattan on Monday.
The House Judiciary Committee, led by Ohio Republican Jim Jordan, is ostensibly meant to discuss crime in New York. In reality, the hearing is a thinly veiled attempt to undermine Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s criminal case against former President Donald Trump.
News flash, Republicans: Your scare tactics won’t work. New York is undeniably beloved by many.
Republicans have played up negative stereotypes about New York City ever since Trump floated his potential indictment date in March. (He apparently got some bad intel about the date.) With their false allegations that Bragg has refused to prosecute violent crime in New York, Republicans have tried to imply Bragg is too distracted by an anti-Trump crusade to deal with other issues. It's a claim rooted in misinformation spread in conservative circles online.
Republicans clearly believe they can pester their way into the heart of Bragg’s Trump indictment by trying to lay any and all New York issues at the DA's feet. It's their latest apparent attempt to meddle in Bragg’s Trump prosecution.
Their efforts did prompt a lawsuit, which Bragg’s office filed Tuesday, to block the Judiciary Committee's interference. More legislative wizardry from Jordan, who has faced criticism from members of his own party for the "weaponization" subcommittee's failure to uncover salacious stories about Democrats that Republicans could use to their advantage.
News flash, Republicans: Your scare tactics won’t work. New York is undeniably beloved by many, and tourists continue to visit no matter the spooky stories told about it. I am reminded of this every time I see a horde of people in Times Square chowing down on Sbarro or taking photos with a dude in a busted Iron Man costume.
But ain’t it funny? When Republicans were lining up to grovel at Trump’s feet during and after the 2016 presidential campaign and making frequent trips to Trump Tower to do so, the supposed seediness of New York City was never front of mind for them.
But now that Trump has moved to Florida — and more importantly, now that he’s the subject of a criminal case — New York is suddenly a hellscape.
I don’t buy it. And you shouldn’t, either.
Personally, I’m of the belief New York City has only gotten better since Trump left. And I’ll be saying the same thing about House Republicans once their charade in the city wraps up next week.