GOP pols attack Dem crime policies ahead of President Biden’s NYC visit

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — President Joe Biden visited New York City Thursday to talk gun violence, but before he arrived some Republican officials, including two Staten Island politicians, took the opportunity to criticize Democratic policies.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn) and City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli (R-South Shore) joined New York Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy on the 12 p.m. call.

Malliotakis and Borelli have voiced support for Mayor Eric Adams’ push to rollback criminal justice reforms of recent years, but Langworthy tried to tie Biden to calls for police defunding, which he’s consistently opposed.

“Clearly, as evidenced by today’s visit, Joe Biden is a puppet for the radical left,” Langworthy said. “He’s no longer the guy who supported the 1994 crime bill. He’s a vessel for the anti-police, pro-criminal policies of the radical left.”

Then-Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware) drafted the Senate version of that legislation, and as president has repeatedly pushed back against his left flank’s calls to take more meaningful action against police brutality, including during the 2020 campaign. That hasn’t stopped him from being labeled as pro-crime by political opponents.

On Thursday, Biden joined Adams, who seems to have developed a cordial relationship with the president, to talk about ways to address gun violence in the five boroughs, and the nation’s other urban areas.

‘GHOST GUNS’ AND ‘IRON PIPELINE’

Two of Biden’s main talking points were how to address privately-made firearms, known as “ghost guns,” and the “iron pipeline” — the various routes that traffickers transport guns from states where they’re legal into New York City.

“We have an opportunity to come together and fulfill the first responsibility of government in our democracy — to keep each other safe,” Biden said. “God bless the men and women who put their lives on the line every single day to keep our communities safe.”

Malliotakis pointed to legislation she introduced in March 2021 that would establish a grant program for states to investigate firearm transfer denials while increasing investigations and prosecutions of illegal purchases.

It would also increase federal efforts to prosecute illegal purchases, particularly felons’ purchases, and create a congressional report that looks at cases presented to the Department of Justice that involve violations of federal gun laws.

Her legislation has stalled in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, and she did not say what other legislation she might support to address gun crimes.

Malliotakis joined other members of the New York City congressional delegation in a meeting with Adams, and said she found it to be productive.

“I thought that Mayor Adams was very clear that he was going to do what he had to do to keep our city safe,” she said. “It was an honest discussion, and I thought the call was actually a very good call.”

Malliotakis and Borelli joined the rest of the Staten Island delegation of elected officials in support of Adams’ push to roll back criminal justice reforms.

In his Jan. 24 public safety presentation, Mayor Adams called for four specific changes to the criminal justice reform laws that passed in recent years — the allowance of judicial discretion in determining how dangerous a defendant may be when determining bail, adjustments to “Raise the Age” legislation, a rollback of discovery reforms, and increased penalties for gun traffickers.

On Thursday, during a roundtable with Biden at 1 Police Plaza in Manhattan, Adams thanked the president for his presence in New York and his support in trying to address gun violence.

“We’re here in solidarity to deal with the issue of violence that has become pervasive in not only New York City, but in the cities across America,” he said. “I want to thank all of you for joining me as we pursue this fight in making sure that the stain of violence does not destroy our community.”

Borelli said it would’ve been hard to imagine candidate Biden doing a press conference with a pro-police mayor in the summer of 2020, when international protests broke out against police brutality following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

He said the president’s visit to the nation’s largest municipal police force marked the latest Democratic shift away from “defund the police” rhetoric.

“When you see him with all the imagery of the men and women in uniform of the NYPD behind him, you have to understand that that is the acknowledgement that the party’s past two years, their position, has been an abject failure, and their ashamed of it,” Borelli said.