Brooks: National Mood Is ‘Threat of Disorder’ Economically, Internationally, and on Crime

On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” New York Times columnist David Brooks stated that Democrats are facing poor poll numbers because “the whole zeitgeist of the country has deteriorated over the last year. And I would say it’s been a threat of disorder,” internationally, domestically on crime, and economically on inflation.

Brooks said, “Basically, the whole zeitgeist of the country has deteriorated over the last year. And I would say it’s been a threat of disorder, disorder on many fronts, disorder internationally with Ukraine, disorder at home, crime. Crime in New York is surging by 30% year over year, 30, 40 in some — robbery and burglary up to 40 or 50%. Inflation is a form of economic disorder. And so, people just feel that the world has become less safe on a whole variety of fronts. And, traditionally, Republicans have been the party of order, and Democrats have been the party of fairness and justice. And so, there has been, historically, an attempt to turn to Republicans when you feel unsafe. And so, Democrats have to turn that around. Now, they have turned it around in the past. … And so, it can be done. But it’s a heavy lift, and it takes a lot of time and a lot of persuasion. I’m not sure there’s enough time to do it before the midterms.”

He later added that Biden has “done a fantastic job, especially this week, on Ukraine.”

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