Right-wing media, especially Fox News, are pushing the narrative that Washington, D.C., residents “are feeling safe” and “are very happy” with the National Guard’s deployment to the capital while suggesting that “white liberals” and the national media are the only ones opposed. But recent polling shows that 8 in 10 residents oppose the Trump administration’s actions.
Research/Study
Right-wing media insist DC residents “are very happy” with the National Guard deployment
A Washington Post poll found 8 in 10 DC residents oppose the National Guard policing the city
Written by Gideon Taaffe
Published
-
The Trump administration’s deployment of the National Guard to DC has been met with outrage from local residents
-
- The Trump administration has deployed the National Guard in Washington, D.C., to crack down on crime. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt: “Over the course of the next month, the Trump administration will relentlessly pursue and arrest every violent criminal in the District who breaks the law, undermines public safety and endangers law-abiding Americans.” The New York Times reported, “Officials have said that 800 National Guard members and roughly 500 federal law enforcement agents were also being deployed to city streets to help curb crime.” [The New York Times, 8/12/25]
- A Washington Post-Schar School poll that found that 8 in 10 D.C. residents oppose the National Guard’s deployment. The poll also found that 64% of residents do not want the National Guard to shut down homeless encampments, 61% of those who have noticed federal agents say this made them feel “less safe,” and 65% of residents do not think the move will make the city safer from violent crime. [The Washington Post, 8/20/25]
- The New York Times reported that in D.C.’s Southeast quadrant, residents feel the National Guard could be used to push Black residents out and are worried about federal overreach. One resident told the Times, “They’re definitely aiming to push more Black people out.” [The New York Times, 8/16/25]
- District residents have also been part of “Free D.C.” protests against the National Guard. Protesters have taken to the streets and on Wednesday, D.C. protesters heckled Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at Union Station. [The Associated Press, 8/16/25; ABC News, 8/20/25]
-
Right-wing media claim that DC residents “feel safer” and are “cheering” on the National Guard
-
- Fox News host Jesse Watters claimed “D.C. locals are cheering” the National Guard “on like a Redskin playoff run.” Watters claimed that “liberals are booing the crime crackdown,” adding, “D.C. locals are cheering them on like a Redskin playoff run.” Watters then aired clips of people in the D.C. Metro praising the police. [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 8/20/25]
- Watters asked if D.C. is “turning into MAGA country” and claimed “the city is happy” about the National Guard’s presence. Watters said, “The city is happy, police are happy, Democrats, they think it's the second civil war.” The show aired a chyron alongside Watters’ commentary, reading, “Everyone’s happy… except Democrats.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 8/19/25]
- Watters also claimed that Black people in the District are saying, “Thank you, welcome Trump's National Guard!” Watters: “Explain to me why it seems like white liberals with bullhorns are screaming to keep crime in Black neighborhoods, and the Black people in the Black neighborhoods are like, 'Thank you, welcome Trump's National Guard.'” Watters added, “The people hit the hardest want Trump to go harder.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 8/18/25]
- Fox News anchor Bret Baier pushed back against the Washington Post poll, saying, “I hear from other D.C. residents that they feel that there is a safety element to it that they are welcoming.” [Fox News, Special Report, 8/20/25]
- Right-wing strategist and podcaster Josh Holmes told Fox News anchor Dana Perino, “I think the vast majority of people who live in Washington and work in Washington are grateful for the effort to try to clean up the streets.” [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 8/20/25]
- Leroy Thorpe, the founder of D.C.’s Citizen Organized Patrol Efforts, claimed on The Ingraham Angle, “People are feeling safe. Particularly people I talked to in public housing that want to live in a very safe and law and order environment. They are very happy.” Fox host Laura Ingraham responded, “People probably want the feds to stay in the city. They don't want them to leave.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 8/18/25]
- Newsweek opinion editor Batya Ungar-Sargon claimed on Fox News, “The residents of D.C. love this.” Ungar-Sargon continued, “They are longing for this. Who doesn't want their child to have a safe street to walk down?” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 8/14/25]
- Fox News contributor Mary Katherine Ham claimed, “Many people — normal people — look at the National Guard and are like, Hey, if they’re being effective and things are going well, I’m fine with this.” She added, “You saw a lot of clips from local news, which is different from the national mainstream media conversation because a lot of local business owners and local homeowners and local residents are like, 'This sure is nicer that we have a little bit more presence on the streets,' and it's making things more peaceful.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 8/21/25]
- On The Five, co-host Harold Ford Jr. claimed, “One thing is for certain, there is no doubt people feel safer in Washington, D.C., over the last several days after the things that are happening in the city.” [Fox News, The Five, 8/18/25]
- The Five co-host Greg Gutfeld claimed, “Every time the media interviews an actual D.C. citizen hoping for a viral clip of them bashing Trump, it's never that way. It’s always the opposite, and they're always Black.” He added, “You look at the protests, and they’re whiter than Brian Kilmeade's fan club. There's nothing more harmful to a Black person than a virtue-signaling white liberal.” [Fox News, The Five, 8/18/25]
- Newsmax host David Harris Jr. claimed he “keep[s] on seeing” social media posts from “many of the residents, the citizens there, that are really happy, especially a lot of Black and brown folks.” Guest Joe Imperatrice, a New York City police officer and founder of Blue Lives Matter NYC, claimed, “People and residents of color love seeing police officers. Having an individual standing there in uniform makes people feel better. It makes them feel safer.” [Newsmax, Greg Kelly Reports, 8/19/25]
- On his radio show, conservative pundit Scott Jennings claimed, “The local residents seem to like it. The Democrats and the media seem to hate it.” [Salem Radio Network, The Scott Jennings Show, 8/18/25]