MSNBC guest more ‘afraid’ of climate change than getting mugged in DC

MSNBC panelist Anand Giridharadas claimed on Tuesday that he is more “afraid” of climate change than of getting mugged in Washington, D.C.

President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard on Monday and took control of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to “reestablish law and order and safety” in the district. During an appearance on “Morning Joe,” Giridharadas attempted to downplay the crime in the district by stating that climate change and Trump’s leadership are scarier than street crimes.

“When I go to D.C., I’m not afraid of losing my wallet so much as I am of losing my vote. I’m not afraid of losing my wallet so much as I am afraid that my children’s freedom to breathe will be stolen in a world where climate change policy is non-existent. I’m more afraid that the future of middle class people will be stolen by the very things you were talking about, cutting the safety net, cutting Medicaid, cutting rural hospitals,” Giridharadas said.

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This claim led to some pushback by MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, who argued that Americans can worry about crime along with other issues. Giridharadas then accused Trump of trying to “weaponize” fear among Americans to distract from his own alleged crimes.

Giridharadas further invoked the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot to claim that is the true “crime problem” for the nation’s capital. Ashley Babbitt, a Trump supporter who entered the Capitol, was the only person who died at the riot after being shot by a Capitol police officer.

In 2025 so far, a gang-related shooting killed 21-year-old congressional intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym near a Metro station, while a separate shooting killed two Israeli Embassy staffers outside of the Capital Jewish Museum. A 19-year-old named Javarry Peaks shot a person in the chest on a Metrobus in March and later got his prison sentence suspended under D.C.’s Youth Rehabilitation Act (YRA), which allows defendants under the age of 24 to avoid incarceration.

The final straw came for the Trump administration after Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer Edward Coristine, also known as “Big Balls,” got severely beaten after he tried to stop a carjacking.

City officials and the corporate media have argued that the district’s crime rate has decreased by 35% since 2024. However, the MPD’s crime data excludes aggravated assault and felony assault without the use of weapons, despite Washington law describing them as violent offenses causing bodily injury.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) data shows that the number of violent offenses in the district has only dropped by 10% since 2024 and remained slightly higher than in 2018. Homicide rates have also remained above pre-pandemic levels with the exception of 2021, a year when Washington submitted incomplete data, according to Axios.

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