Sources used for this talk:
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/8/15/chicago_brandon_johnson_trump_dc_takeover
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/dem-da-on-cnn-torches-stupid-racist-fascist-dictator-trump-amid-crime-distraction/ar-AA1KsEbY? (See below*)
https://www.mystateline.com/news/local-news/trump-criticizes-illinois-leadership-pritzker-fires-back-draws-nazi-comparisons/
C. Clark Kissinger, August 15, 2025: ‘Near the beginning of yesterday's episode of the RNL Show is an amazing press conference with Philadelphia's DA. For the first time, some local Democratic Party politicians are coming to understand that Trump really IS a fascist and he DOES intend to seize power in the country's major cities regardless of the law. Yet tragically there is still no call by these politicians for people in their millions to come into the streets and stop this. They would rather live under fascism than threaten the system of which they are a part. Don't watch it and weep; watch it and take action!’
I meant to refer to Mr. Kissinger as a “veteran radical activist from the 1960s” not “a veteran from the 1960s.”
*Krassner interview:
COLLINS: We do hear the president saying, other U.S. major cities could be next here. I wonder if that’s a pledge that you take seriously tonight.
LARRY KRASNER: Well, sadly, we do, because I think the bottom line is that President Trump doesn’t like public safety. He’s a convicted criminal himself. He pardons people who are criminals, and do pretty dastardly things, like cause the deaths of five different law enforcement officers, during January 6th.
There is no indication that this man is in favor of law-abiding behavior of public safety. But he is in favor of power. He is in favor of fascism. He is in favor of ending democracy.
And what he’s trying to do here is not normal. As Wanda Sykes, one of my faves, would say, it’s not normal, to act like you can go into a city that is having tremendous progress, 30-year low in crime, and call it an emergency, and bring in a bunch of troops who aren’t even trained for this kind of work.
He may think he’s going to try it in other places. But the fact is, legally, he has much less of a right to do any of this, in other cities, and he better not try it in Philly.
COLLINS: Yes, because obviously, with the existing power structures here. I mean, he’s invoking the Home Rule, here in Washington. That’s what the Mayor was talking about earlier.
I mean, but if he does try it in a city like yours, what do you do? Do you file a lawsuit over that?
KRASNER: Well, what we do, because we believe in the law, and he does not, is we go to the courts, and hopefully we have judges who still believe in the law, even if some of his hacks on the Supreme Court do not.
What we do is we stand up, we resist, we fight. This is the cradle of democracy, in Philadelphia. We have a beautiful city, a beautiful, diverse city, a beautiful Democratic city, and that’s why our name has been in his mouth, in malicious ways, for a very, very long time.
The 10th Amendment says he cannot take over the Philadelphia Police Department as he is doing in D.C. D.C. is different. It’s not a state. Pennsylvania is a state, and Philadelphia is its biggest city. Our police department is controlled by the mayor. And oh, trust me, this mayor does not work for Donald Trump, and neither do we.
So, we will stand on this constitutional right that has been there forever. We will stand on the reality that you cannot claim, It is an emergency, when Philadelphia, as of today, has the lowest number of homicides in over 50 years. We may set the record, the record, for lowest crime overall in Philadelphia for more than 50 years, and at the same time we have some of the lowest incarceration. That’s not an emergency.
COLLINS: Yes.
KRASNER: Donald Trump is the emergency. Folks, listen, the emergency is Donald Trump. It is not anything else. And if you want your democracy, you better stand up now.
COLLINS: When you say that, and you say he is the emergency, what are you trying to warn about?
KRASNER: This is a staging ground. This is a normalization of troops being deployed to do what they should not be asked to do, what they’re not equipped to do, and what violates the Constitution and laws.
And why is he doing it? He’s doing it for the same reason he had that stupid birthday parade. He’s doing it, because he really likes the idea of being a dictator. He likes the idea of destroying our legal system. He likes the idea of eliminating the courts and taking away individual rights.
I mean, look what he’s doing, talking about people who are unhoused as if they’re criminals. They’re not criminals. They need a place to sleep. They need food. You know? Last time I checked the Bible, it said, Take everything you have and give it to the poor. It didn’t say. Steal everything you can from the poor and lock them up. And that’s what he’s doing here.
This is a profoundly un-American attempt to exercise power in ways that are illegal, to scare big cities, and to go after Democratic cities that are diverse, to serve his racist, fascist agenda. I’m sorry to put it out so plain, but that is what this is, and we all have to stand up to it.
CNN’s COLLINS: Can I ask you? Because, when we talk about these numbers with the White House on crime, the numbers that you just listed, for Philadelphia, specifically, they may say, Yes, that is what — you know, they’re looking at the homicide rate falling to its lowest in two decades, after it peaked in 2022. But they might look at numbers saying, Well, in the last year, Philadelphia has not been able to bring down instances of rape. There’s been a 24 percent rise in thefts, aggravated assaults with guns that are ticking up, and auto thefts.
What would you say if there’s a resident in Philadelphia who says, I’d like to see that changed, and maybe I like what the president is doing. What would you say to them?
KRASNER: Well, first of all, I’d say, you might want to — you might want to include the whole slide, because out of the 18 categories, 15 are down. What you showed was three that are up, but 15 are down. Homicide’s way down. Way down–
COLLINS: Yes, because you mentioned the ones that are down.
KRASNER: Well, the reality is, we’re massively down. We’re going to set a record. And it’s not two decades. It’s five decades. We’ve never seen anything like this, in Philadelphia.
So, there is no emergency here except Donald Trump, OK? You’re not a 34-time felon, Kaitlan. I’m not a 34-time felon. The person directing this, claiming he’s in favor of public safety, is a 34-time felon. And if he went to court for his other crimes, we’d be looking at more felonies than that.
Let’s not kid ourselves. He doesn’t like public safety. He likes public disorder. That gives him an excuse to roll tanks. That’s what he wants. That’s what dictators want. So, let’s not get lost in his silly argument, his silly distraction, from the fact that he doesn’t want to give up information on his own involvement in a pedophile ring. Did we all forget about that? Let’s not get away from that, and let’s not get into his silly arguments.
This country may have its lowest year of crime, on record, this year, at the same time, this man is claiming a public safety emergency. Donald Trump is the public safety emergency. It’s him, and we all need to stand up to that, or we are going to lose our country.
COLLINS: Philadelphia District Attorney, Larry Krasner, I appreciate you joining with your perspective tonight.
KRASNER: Thank you, Kaitlan. Appreciate it.
Share this post