Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON – (WMAL) The mayor of Washington, D.C. is not happy her city got name-dropped in less-than-flattering ways by Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump during Sunday’s debate.
“You look at the violence that’s taking place in the inner cities – Chicago, you take a look at Washington, D.C.,” Trump said during a discussion about country unity. He went on to mention the success of his redevelopment at the Old Post Office Pavilion – something Mayor Muriel Bowser finds contradictory.
“We know Donald knows a lot about D.C.,” Bowser tells WMAL. “He’s opening a hotel here. He made the calculation that D.C. is not only a good place to live, but a good place to do business.”
Bowser maintains Trump’s statements on crime are “another example of him playing fast and loose with the facts.”
“We’re seeing year-over-year improvements in crime categories across the District, and we’re very proud of the work we’ve done,” she says.
Bowser first made her displeasure known in the form of a tweet Monday morning.
“(Shaking my head) at (Trump) who comes to DC for profit on the 1 hand, badmouths it on the other. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but here are the facts,” she tweeted, before linking to an image listing D.C.’s accomplishments in crime reduction and tourism – among them a two percent reduction in violent crime and a record $7.1 billion spent by tourists.
“(Trump’s) bread and butter has been working in cities and profiting from people who live in cities,” Bowser says. “What we want in the next president is somebody who doesn’t attack cities, but comes up with creative policies to move transportation projects, to invest in public education, to invest in jobs and increasing wages.”
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