President Donald Trump on Monday pledged to bring down shooting numbers in Chicago and other American cities "even if we have to go in and take over."
Trump was speaking at a law enforcement round table at the White House, where he touted his record as "pro-safety, pro-police and anti-crime."
During the event, he turned his attention to Chicago, a frequent target of the president's, and again compared the city with Afghanistan, which he has done repeatedly in the past.
The president cited erroneous numbers, saying there were "I guess 20 people killed and many, many shootings" in the city over the weekend.
In fact, 10 people were killed in shootings over the weekend. Fifty other people were injured in shootings across Chicago.
"Numbers are going to be coming down even if we have to go in and take over cities because we can't let that happen. When you have 20 people killed, 22 people killed in one weekend in Chicago. When you have 88 shootings, it's not even conceivable," Trump said. "That's worse than Afghanistan, I hate to say it. That's worse than any war zone that we're in by a lot. It makes them look like tame places by comparison."
"So we're not going to let it go on," he added. "We're not supposed to ... uh supposed to wait for them to call, but they don't call. We've asked Chicago, 'Would you like us to go in and help?' and they don't want to say anything. And we've called many of the cities, 'Would you like us to go and help?'"
Mayor Lori Lightfoot has relished attacking Trump, frequently ripping him as a divisive leader who demonizes Democratic cities like Chicago solely for political gain. But she did not immediately respond Monday to the president's latest remarks.
