EXCLUSIVE: Tom Emmer Says That Crime Is No. 1 Issue That Can Cost Dems The Midterms

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer is urging Republicans to highlight their support for President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown efforts, arguing that voters will reject Democrats at the ballot box for supporting soft-on-crime policies that make their own communities less safe.

Emmer, the third-highest-ranking House Republican, told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a recent interview that he expects law-and-order issues to dominate the midterms, labeling crime the number one issue on voters’ minds. The majority whip argues that the Democratic Party’s repeated failure to address crime despite voters’ widespread concern about safety is likely to hurt the party’s chances of retaking the House in 2026. (RELATED: Dan Turrentine Says Dem Staffers Who Publicly Say ‘Trump Is Hitler’ Told Him They Love Trump’s DC Crackdown)

Emmer referenced an August AP-NORC survey that found 81% of Americans — including 68% of Democrats and 96% of Republicans — view crime as a “major problem” in large cities. A majority of voters also approve of President Donald Trump’s handling of crime, according to the poll.

“When one party offers you safety and security and the other one offers you more crime and chaos — which one do you think you’re going to pick when you go into the ballot box?” Emmer told the DCNF. “The answer is clear. It will be reflected big time in the midterms next year.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks alongside a photo of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was allegedly killed by Decarlos Brown Jr., on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina, during a press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, September 9, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Emmer spoke to the DCNF in the wake of the fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska who sought safety in the United States from the war in Ukraine. The 23-year old woman was brutally murdered by repeat offender Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, on a Charlotte light rail train on Aug. 22.

Emmer and other GOP leaders have hammered Democrats for supporting soft-on-crime policies that allowed repeat offenders like Brown to roam free despite countless previous arrests and history of mental illness. Brown had been previously arrested 14 times in North Carolina and was out on cashless bail when he murdered Zarutska.

“Republicans are the party of safety and security and that horrific murder of the Ukrainian immigrant, Iryna Zarutska, is a clear example of how these soft-on-crime policies that Democrats have been pushing over the last decade can kill people,” Emmer told the DCNF.

“They’re literally protecting criminals while leaving innocent civilians to bear the consequences,” Emmer continued. “And it doesn’t have to be this way.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), House Republicans’ campaign arm, has also torched Democrats for supporting policies that enabled the repeat offender to murder Zarutska.

“For years, radical Democrats pushed soft-on-crime policies that let violent criminals walk free, ignored the concerns of law-abiding families, and smeared Republicans for demanding law and order,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement. “Now, after tragedies like the brutal Charlotte murder, they’re scrambling to rewrite history.”

“The contrast couldn’t be more clear: President Trump and Republicans are restoring law and order, while Democrats make excuses and leave innocent victims to fend for themselves,” Marinella added.

WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 4: National Guard members ride an escalator down into the WMATA Smithsonian-National Mall metro station while patrolling the National Mall, on September 04, 2025 in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

The majority whip also slammed Democrats for not acknowledging the success of Trump’s D.C. crime crackdown.

Law enforcement have made more than 2,100 arrests, including 20 known gang members, since the beginning of the president’s federal takeover of D.C., a White House official told the Daily Caller on Tuesday. At least seven missing children have also been found.

Democrats, however, have largely responded to Trump’s crime prevention efforts by citing statistics to argue that crime in the nation’s capital is down. The House Oversight Committee is investigating whether top D.C. law enforcement officials manipulated statistics to undercount crime in the nation’s capital following a whistleblower’s allegations.

Democrats have also used hyperbolic rhetoric with Democratic California Rep. Ted Lieu comparing Trump’s temporary takeover of the D.C. police department and deployment of National Guard troops to the authoritarian North Korean government.

Emmer said that Democrats’ inability to acknowledge voters’ concerns about crime mirrors the party’s failure to respond to complaints about inflation under former President Joe Biden.

“These people do not learn from history,” Emmer told the DCNF. “It’s the same darn thing … They’re saying, ‘Oh no, the statistics show that this stuff is down. Well, people have been manipulating the statistics. We know that the D.C. police did exactly that to make it look like crime was not what it is.”

“The good news for us is just like the inflation issue, people, citizens, know what they see and what they feel,” Emmer added.

Emmer said he was focused on encouraging the country’s slate of Democratic governors, including Tim Walz from his home state of Minnesota, to cooperate with Trump to fight crime. The majority whip invoked D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser who recently signed an executive order to indefinitely extend the D.C. police department’s cooperation with federal authorities. The move has earned her plaudits from the president.

“She has partnered now with President Trump, and she is benefiting, and so are the people that hired her to be the mayor of D.C.,” Emmer told the DCNF. “I think that’s the best thing that we can do is encourage these failed governors [to cooperate].”

“You don’t have to like the president,” Emmer continued. “But at the end of the day, you were hired to protect citizens and their property.”

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