Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) claimed that President Joe Biden is “well on his way to becoming the most pro-crime administration in history” at an event Friday hosted by the Manhattan Institute in Washington, D.C. Cotton asserted that Democrats are “pro-riot, anti-cop, anti-prosecutor” and have “more sympathy for violent criminals than innocent victims.” The U.S. is seeing a resulting level of violence, Cotton claimed, that “would have been unimaginable five years ago” and constitutes the “greatest assault on the rule of law in modern times.” Cotton has long been a critic of Democratic strategies for fighting crime. In 2016, he advocated against a criminal-leniency bill that would have reduced mandatory minimum sentencing. He claimed Friday that the ominous predictions for the future he made then were “if anything, too optimistic.” The senator’s concerns about crime come amidst the growing recognition by the Left that the problem has reached a new low. Major cities across America are facing unprecedented rises in violent crimes like rapes, aggravated assaults, and robberies. Preliminary FBI data suggests that there was a 25 percent nationwide increase in murders in 2020 — the greatest increase on record. While Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) dismissed the worry about crime as mere “hysteria” on Sunday, CNN recently characterized 2020’s sharp increase in homicides, rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults as “historic and far-reaching.” The New York Times reported June 1 that cities are “brac[ing] for a violent summer” and NBC noted June 16 that a spike in police deaths “mirror[s] the increase in violent crime across the country.” Biden announced a plan on Wednesday to address the crisis by increasing gun control laws, investing in resources for law enforcement officers, and expanding community economic and social programs. But Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, issued a statement Thursday calling the plan “a wea...
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