VICTOR JOECKS: Trump bets stopping crime will pay big

President Donald Trump is doing his best impersonation of the Old Testament prophet Elijah.

In I Kings, Elijah issued a challenge to the people of Israel — either follow the Lord or follow Baal. To determine the true God, Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal. They would each build an altar and sacrifice a bull, but not burn it.

“The God who answers by fire, he is God,” Elijah said.

The prophets of Baal went first. They cried out and cut themselves for hours but to no avail. Then Elijah built an altar and dug a trench around it. After cutting the bull apart, he had water dumped on the altar three times, which drenched it and filled the trench.

He then prayed for the Lord to answer, so “that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God.”

The Lord responded by sending fire that “consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.”

The people reached the obvious conclusion: “The Lord, he is God.”

Trump has created a similar contest in Washington, D.C. Crime in the nation’s capital is out of control. Media members, congressional staffers and even members of Congress have been assaulted, along with many others. This summer, Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, a 21-year-old congressional intern, died after being shot in D.C. There’s currently a scandal about D.C. police leaders underreporting crime statistics, but murder is hard to hide.

Last year, the homicide rate in D.C. was 27.3 per 100,000 residents. This was almost double the murder rate in Bogotá, Colombia, and nearly triple the rate in Mexico City.

It isn’t difficult to figure out why crime is so high. Washington, D.C., has long been run by leftists who sympathize with criminals, not police or victims. In 2020, the D.C. Council cut police funding by $15 million. In 2023, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb justified going easy on juveniles because he wanted “to treat kids like kids.” In most cases, the city’s Youth Rehabilitation Act allows judges to ignore mandatory minimum sentences for criminals under 25.

Despite the spin of the propaganda press, the left’s approach hasn’t worked. It’s as obvious as the failure of Baal’s prophets.

Trump is trying a different approach. He wants to put criminals in jail. He wants to clear out the homeless. He wants to flood the streets with law enforcement.

If he receives approval from Congress to continue, this approach will work. Criminals don’t commit crimes when they’re in jail. Just like everyone else, would-be criminals respond to incentives, too.

Nevada Republicans, led by Gov. Joe Lombardo, should draw a similar contrast here. Last session, Lombardo proposed a bill to increase penalties on criminals. Even after gutting major sections of it, legislative Democrats, including Democrat attorney general candidate Nicole Cannizzaro, still didn’t get it to Lombardo’s desk.

Even though it won’t feature fire from the sky, this is a winning contrast for Trump and Lombardo.

Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.