Washington Governor Inslee says President Trump ‘cannot and will not defund us’
Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee and other leaders have responded to a memo from President Trump Wednesday that said it would cut federal funding to Seattle and other cities and states that have seen ongoing protests.
“This illegal memorandum is a sham. It is just the latest baseless, petty and divisive move by President Trump to distract from his abject failure to protect Americans from COVID-19,” Inslee said in a statement Wednesday night. “With more than 185,000 lives lost on his watch, we won’t forget.”
The memo from President Donald Trump accused states and local governments of contributing to “violence and destruction in their jurisdictions” that he alleged “have continued unabated in many of America’s cities, such as Portland, Seattle, and New York.”
It went on to say: “My Administration will not allow Federal tax dollars to fund cities that allow themselves to deteriorate into lawless zones.”
Inslee said in his statement: “The President cannot and will not defund us. He is not a dictator and laws still apply to him. While we’re calling our lawyers, he should call his public health experts. This will not stand.”
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan also responded. In a series of tweets she said in part: “The only anarchy zone in America, where the rule of law is disregarded, is at the White House,” and that “America’s cities will not be distracted by his actions.”
The News York Times reported that New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo addressed the memo at a press conference Wednesday evening: “It’s cheap, it’s political, it’s gratuitous, and it’s illegal,” he said.
This story was originally published September 3, 2020 at 12:29 PM with the headline "Washington Governor Inslee says President Trump ‘cannot and will not defund us’."
