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The president was sort of led into a question about the race for mayor in D.C., with the questioner on Thursday talking about Janeese Lewis George’s perceived efforts to be a D.C. version of New York City’s socialist-leaning mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
But that’s all it took for President Donald Trump to threaten a takeover of D.C. should voters put the Ward 4 council member in the mayor’s office this year.
“I wouldn’t like it” if Lewis George wins, Trump told reporters.
If it happens, “maybe we’ll take back Washington and run it on a federal basis. We won’t put up with it. We’re not going to lose our businesses.”
However, the message might not play like the president hoped it would with D.C. residents.
“They know how they feel about Donald Trump,” said Keneshia Grant, an associate professor of political science at Howard University. “If it is the case that Donald Trump doesn’t like Janeese Lewis George, then it might tell them, ‘OK, me and Donald Trump usually disagree, I’m going to support Janeese Lewis George, because I know that I would disagree with Donald Trump on this.’”
A recent Washington Post poll put Lewis George in the lead, thanks to a younger, whiter base of voters who are newer to D.C. They’re also more progressive and really don’t like the president.
“If those people are turning out in greatest numbers, then yes, she had a fantastic day yesterday,” Grant said about Lewis George. “Getting the president on the record for this was good for her.”
In addition, it could also reinforce to voters a connection the Janeese Lewis George campaign has tried to forge between the other front-runner in the race, former D.C. Councilman Kenyan McDuffie.
WTOP sent a questionnaire to all the candidates in each contested race, asking them to introduce themselves to voters. Read their responses here.
Her campaign has been suggesting that a small number of donations given to McDuffie’s campaign from people who have also donated to the president is indicative of a closer alignment with the president’s policies, which are not popular in D.C.
For his part, McDuffie has been forceful about denying that and vowing to fight for the city’s priorities and independence. He’s also adamant he’s no fan of the president either. But Grant said Trump’s words on Thursday might not help.
“This statement from the President from Donald Trump yesterday made that connection even closer,” Grant said.
By making the claim that he doesn’t want to work with one of the front-runners, Grant said the average voter in the District may come to the conclusion that Trump would prefer to work with another candidate over Lewis George.
And voters who dislike Trump, may opt to vote against candidates he seemingly prefers.
However, voters who are really concerned about home rule might see it differently. That’s also the case if D.C.’s historical voting base, older Black residents who go back generations in the city, turns out in higher numbers for their preferred candidate, which is believed to be McDuffie.
“If the latter group is going to turn out more, then the statement yesterday, even though it came from Donald Trump, might be a big and important moment for Kenyan McDuffie,” Grant said. “Why is this the case? That second group of voters is worried about losing the city, and believe that a mayor could work together with Donald Trump, even though they might disagree with Donald Trump on everything, to keep home rule in place.
“This voter would assume that Donald Trump is telegraphing that I’m not necessarily going to take your city if I get a person who I think is a reasonable politician,” she added. “And the implication is that Kenyan McDuffie is the reasonable politician.”
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