During an appearance on Fox News' Fox & Friends morning show, Representative Kevin McCarthy said that defunding the police is not the answer to issues of police brutality. He said the focus should be on "on creating better performance, transparency, and accountability within the police force."
The country has been rocked by protests as a result of the death of George Floyd. He died on Memorial Day after then Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin held a knee to Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, likely causing his death. Chauvin has been charged with homicide, and three other officers have been charged with aiding and abetting a homicide.
"This movement of defunding the police through the Democratic party is stronger than impeachment ever was [or] Medicare for All. They are already taking actions on it. Cities are already doing that, and that's the last thing you want to happen [because it will] perpetuate the problem more," said McCarthy in a statement released by his office following the show. "We should be providing more money for training. If you look at the recent studies by Chiefs of Police, 80 percent of them said there is a greater need for training. We want the very best officers out there so we should provide better training and transparency."
McCarthy also said that officers should be held accountable for their actions.
"And then you want accountability. If we have better performance, better transparency, and better accountability we will have a much better solution to this problem."
