Schumer feels 'perfectly safe’ in DC, says Republicans are ‘full of it' on crime concerns

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that he feels "perfectly safe" in Washington, D.C., and that Republicans who say that D.C. is unsafe are "full of it." 

During an interview with lawyer Aaron Parnas on his podcast, "The Parnas Perspective," Schumer was asked about President Donald Trump’s federalization of D.C.’s police force.

"I want to get your reaction to everything that’s happening in D.C.," Parnas said. "But, first, a lot of folks on the Republican side, your Republican colleagues, say that they are very scared to walk outside in D.C., that they think this is completely the right thing to do. Senator, are you scared walking around Washington, D.C., these days?"

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Schumer press conference

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that he feels "perfectly safe" in Washington, D.C., and that Republicans saying that D.C. is unsafe are "full of it."  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

"No," Schumer replied. "I walk around all the time. I wake up early in the morning sometimes and take a nice walk as the sun is rising around some of the Capitol and the other monuments and things. And I feel perfectly safe." 

On Monday, Trump announced that he would be taking control of D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department, and deploying 800 National Guard troops to the nation's capital. 

Schumer went on to slam Republicans for their safety concerns. 

"They’re full of it," he said. "Look, here’s what they’ve done, Aaron, plain and simple. Donald Trump wants to distract. That’s his game plan. It’s been his MO for his first term in the presidency and now, so he's trying to make this a distraction. What’s he trying to distract from? Well, a lot of things. But above all, Epstein." 

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Donald Trump pointing at the White House

On Monday, President Donald Trump announced that he would be taking control of D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department, and deploying 800 National Guard troops to the nation's capital.  (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Senate Democrats have been pushing for Trump to fully release the documents connected to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and Trump has told Attorney General Pam Bondi to "produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony" on the subject. 

Schumer said that Trump’s focus on D.C. crime is a distraction tactic.  

"We’ve been confronting him on Epstein very successfully left and right, so much so that Johnson had to dismiss, you know, had to send his House home early, and we called it the Epstein recess," Schumer said.

He added that Democrats won't let the Epstein issue go when they return from their August recess. 

"We have found an arcane rule that if five members of our Homeland Security Committee demand documents, we should get them," Schumer added. "When I really — you know, when I attacked them for sending the Deputy Attorney General, Trump’s lawyer, down to interview Ghislaine, they went crazy. They’re feeling it and we’re not letting go. When we come back, we are going to have many more things in terms of going after them on the Epstein files. So that’s what it is. It’s a distraction, plain and simple."

Many Democrats have been dismissive of the 47th president's push to crack down on crime in D.C., and have argued that crime in the capital is at a 30-year low. 

Since Aug. 7, law enforcement officials in Washington, D.C., have arrested over 100 people, including 43 arrests on Tuesday.

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Chuck Schumer

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that Trump’s focus on D.C. crime is a distraction tactic.   (REUTERS/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/File Photo)

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"Chuck Schumer, another out-of-touch liberal, enjoys the comfort of full-time, taxpayer-funded security details provided by the U.S. Capitol Police," Special Assistant to the President and principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields told Fox News Digital in a statement. "For the rest of America, who face the realities of crime in Democrat-run cities without an armed detail, they welcome President Trump’s tough-on-crime approach that is Making America Safe Again." 

Rachel del Guidice is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to rachel.delguidice@fox.com.