As the 2020 election draws near, more and more ads are being played on TV and online. ABC15 has promised to turn a critical eye towards some of the political ads that our viewers are seeing and fact check them for accuracy.
In the latest ad airing across Arizona, President Donald Trump is linking Joe Biden to the controversial “defund the police" movement. However, Joe Biden opposes defunding the police.
The thirty-second ad uses scenes captured in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd, presenting a world of constant protests and civil unrest with an empty police station. It asks the viewer to imagine what life would be like if Democrats were in charge and implies that there will be no police protection.
First, viewers should know that Joe Biden has openly denounced defunding the police on multiple occasions and supported reform.
“Federal dollars should not go to departments that violate people’s rights or turn to violence as a first resort, but I don't support defunding police,” Biden said in an op-ed he wrote in June for USA Today.
Biden wants to give the police more money. In the op-ed, Biden calls for an additional $300-million to fund community policing and retraining. He also wants a federal chokehold ban and a national standard for use of force.
When the President signed an executive order on policing in June, he encouraged, but did not order, a chokehold ban or use of force standards.
Biden also told CBS News during the height of Floyd protests, "I support conditioning federal aid to police based on whether or not they meet certain basic standards of decency and honorableness. And, in fact, are able to demonstrate they can protect the community and everybody in the community."
Joe Biden supports re-directing some money police departments receive.
"Surplus military equipment for law enforcement, they don't need that," Biden said in an interview with the program 'Now This.'"
He added, “The last thing you need is an armored Humvee going into a neighborhood like the military invading."
Biden wants the money to fund community, mental health and housing programs. None of that equates to defunding police.
We believe this ad is misleading at best.
