An MSNBC contributor was said to be “on the verge of having a meltdown” Monday immediately after President Donald Trump announced the National Guard would be deployed to end high crime in Washington, D.C.
Appearing on “Chris Jansing Reports,” contributor Eddie Glaude reacted to Trump’s plan, saying: “Chris, to be honest with you, I’m trying to hold my temper. I think there’s an ongoing argument that he’s having in his head with Black Lives Matter.
“There’s an ongoing argument that he’s having with the questions around criminal justice reform and police reform.
“It’s interesting that he really doesn’t really care about what’s actually happening in D.C. on a certain level, because he’s not trying to get at the underlying root causes. He’s not looking at examples of how to address rising crime rates that doesn’t require a form of policing that leads to increased incarcera[tion].”
JUST IN: MSNBC contributor Eddie Glaude is on the verge of having a meltdown after Trump placed DC police under federal control, claims Trump is only doing this to distract from Epstein.
“I’m trying to hold my temper.”
“I think there’s an ongoing argument that he’s having in… pic.twitter.com/W0PafwiqpV
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 11, 2025
“We have to understand this, Chris, in the context of Donald Trump’s racial politics and in the context of his effort to get [Jeffrey] Epstein off the front pages.”
“He’s actually trying to give his base red meat to get them off of the Epstein story and it’s on the backs of citizens in Washington, D.C.”
Trump also announced U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi would oversee the federal takeover of the district’s Metropolitan Police Department, or MPD.
The MPD tracker indicates violent crime has fallen in D.C. 26% compared to last year, but there have been 99 homicides so far in 2025.
Reaction online to Claude’s analysis includes:
“MSNBC logic: Crime is fine. Violence is fine. Chaos is fine. But cleaning it up? ‘Racist, politically motivated, and suspicious.’ You’d think they want D.C. to stay ungovernable … almost like it’s part of the business model.”
“Clean up the capital, clean up the crime, help the police get this district back, the streets back! People from all over the country, and world come to our capital. MSNBC this reaction is bizarre.”
“I find it interesting that Glaude immediately made it about race. I don’t remember Trump saying anything about race. He didn’t say they were going to go after black criminals in D.C. He just said criminals. I guess Glaude knows what we all do about crime in D.C. & that’s why he’s so butthurt. We are going to hold every criminal accountable. Even black criminals.”
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