Democrats are struggling to mount a response as Trump has federalized Washington, D.C., and seized control of the Metropolitan Police Department while threatening to take similar actions in other Democratic cities.

In interviews with The Hill, some Democrats have expressed frustration with their party’s emphasis on decreasing crime rates instead of focusing on the way voters feel walking the streets of their city.

“These crime statistics, as impressive as they are, are no substitute for how people feel and what they see, and Washington residents still feel like crime is too high and too pervasive, and … that reality has created this opening for Donald Trump,” said Democratic strategist Anthony Coley, who resides in the nation’s capital.

“Now that is no excuse for this political stunt he

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