“I’m not even sure they have a plan. Have they spoken to the mayor? Have they spoken to the chief of police? Have they spoken to the United States attorney? They will be gone in a couple of weeks and the illegality will return to arise. And they have not yet addressed the social and economic conditions that underlie the illegality, “Ridge told CNN’s John Berman in” Anderson Cooper 360. “
“It is a very disappointing response to a serious problem, but it is typical of someone who thinks that reality television is real.”
His comments come hours after Trump announced that he will “elevate” federal law enforcement officers to Chicago and other American cities, despite resistance from local leaders.
Using ominous rhetoric and obscure language to describe Democrat-run cities as riddled with crime and violence, Trump suggested that he had little choice but to take steps that those leaders have not taken to save innocent lives.
“No mother should have to cradle her dead son in her arms simply because the politicians refused to do what is necessary to protect their neighborhood and their city,” she said during a mid-afternoon event in the East Room of the White House. .
Ridge’s message Wednesday night builds on his earlier comments on Trump’s vote to send federal officials to American cities.
“It would be a cold day in hell before I gave my consent for unilateral and uninvited intervention in one of my cities,” he continued.
When asked about those comments Wednesday, Ridge stated that “you just don’t pick up the phone and don’t order” federal agents in any community.
“I dare say this, and I will rarely speak for Republicans or Democrats or anyone in elected office, I doubt that there is a Republican or Democrat today, mayor or governor, who does not contest the unilateral incursion of federal agents without coordination with state and law enforcement agencies, “he said.
“I just don’t think that happens. By the way, I shouldn’t either.”
CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.
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