Michelle Wu faces her big Beltway moment this week against rabid right wing Republicans with her major defense – that Boston is the “safest city” in America – in shambles after the shocking Chick-fil-A attack in the city’s crowded Back Bay.
The Boston mayor’s claims of public safety are going to ring hollow following the shooting of a knife-wielding attacker by an off-duty police officer in the fast food restaurant this weekend.
If the city’s low shooting rate was going to be the foundation of her appearance, it’s cracked now.
But Wu could still skillfully navigate her appearance before a House committee on Wednesday and emerge as the left wing icon of resistance to Donald Trump.
“Not my first rodeo,” she said on Monday.
It’s unclear when Wu’s first rodeo was — maybe the time she held a whites only holiday party at the Parkman House? Or maybe when she offered condolences over the weekend to the family of the knife wielding attacker at Chick-fil-A?
Wu’s job in Washington was made much more difficult by the weekend events in the heart of Boston, which no doubt will be on the minds of Republican lawmakers on the panel.
Attorney General Pam Bondi sharply criticized Wu for offering condolences to the family of the knife attacker, identified as Lemark Jaramillo of Roslindale, when Wu went to the scene of the shooting. The mayor at the time did not even praise the heroic officer for saving lives.
“This DOJ will NEVER apologize for taking down dangerous criminals and getting them off our streets. Thank you to the brave law enforcement officer in Boston who stepped up to protect those in need.” Bondi wrote on X.
Bondi added that “politicians who want to apologize to criminals should not be in office.”
Wu responded on Monday that it was “unfortunate to politicize being at the scene of a tragic incident. Our officers are in extremely difficult and dangerous situations every single day … I expressed condolences … because every loss of life is a horrible tragedy.”
No matter how prepared Wu is for her D.C. testimony, she still could suffer the same fate as former Harvard President Claudine Gay, who withered under questioning at a congressional hearing where she refused to say that calls for the genocide of Jews violated the school’s conduct code.
Gay, who also faced plagiarism allegations, was the second Ivy League president forced to resign following their disastrous congressional testimony.
No doubt the Harvard-educated Wu will be prepared to defend her city amid attacks from Republicans over Boston’s sanctuary status for illegal immigrants.
She will be one of four mayors called to testify about illegal immigration in their city, but most of the focus at the hearing will probably be directed at Wu, one of the most high profile lefty pols in the nation.
Wu said she plans to “stand up” for Boston and “the truth” when she testifies on Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee.
“We have already seen some materials put out in advance that seems designed to heighten interest and frame it as some kind of showdown or dramatic moment,” she said.
“We are one of the most diverse cities…and we are the safest major city in the country,” she added.
She better hope to come up with a line better than that one in Washington, or she will be roasted by Republicans.
Playing defense for Wu on Wednesday will be Democratic lawmakers Ayanna Pressley and Stephen Lynch, who also sit on the oversight committee. But Pressley, even further to the left than Wu, may not be the best person to come to the mayor’s rescue.
