Former Vice President Pence said on Sunday he “fully” supports President Trump’s approach to combating crime in Washington, D.C., through his recent crackdown on the nation’s capital.
“I welcome his decision to deploy the National Guard and essentially federalize the D.C. Police Department. I know that it’s all now working in a very cooperative way,” Pence said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“I think it’s important what the president is doing. I fully support it. And I think the American people welcome the president taking decisive action to ensure the streets of our nation’s capital are safe and also continues to provide resources across the country to make all of our cities and towns and communities safe,” Pence added.
The National Guard started ramping up its presence in Washington on Thursday, deploying troops to the National Mall and Metro stations after the president announced the move earlier in the week in what he portrayed as a crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital.
The White House said more than 1,600 personnel were involved in operations across the city on Wednesday, making 45 arrests, mostly targeting immigrants who lacked permanent legal status.
While the Guard had a relatively small footprint in the city earlier this week, by Thursday, all of the roughly 800 Army and Air National Guard troops Trump ordered to the streets had mobilized for duty, the Pentagon confirmed.
On Saturday, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) announced the deployment of 200 National Guard troops to Washington, just hours after West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) announced between 300 and 400 National Guard troops would be traveling to the nation’s capital.
