Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin recently bashed President Donald Trump's executive actions in his first days of the administration, calling it the "Alabama-fication" of the U.S. government.
Woodfin, who governs a city that just beat a 91-year record for violent crime, appeared on CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt to opine on Trump's perceived failures in signing executive orders targeting federal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs.
One Trump executive order ended all federal DEI offices and placed all federal DEI staff on leave. Another ended affirmative action in federal contracting and ended other DEI-type practices.
Juxtaposing the Trump order with Alabama's 2024 law banning DEI offices in state-funded entities, Woodfin claimed the bans overwhelmingly negatively affect white women and veterans, not racial minorities.
"Listen, the unfortunate part of this conversation of stripping DEI, Americans are witnessing the 'Alabama-fication' of federal government," Woodfin said. "We've seen in Alabama, legislators create laws to get rid of DEI and the governor signing to law that removing DEI from colleges and universities and other aspects throughout the state."
"And so we've seen this dance, and the unfortunate part is other Americans have to witness this at the national level. That being the case, we all know those who benefit the most from DEI are veterans as well as white women. And so DEI has always gone well beyond African-Americans and other minorities. When you say you don't want to have programs that support veterans, when you say you don't want to have programs that support women, etc. What are you really saying? What message and who are you trying to communicate with?" he added.
Woodfin gave evasive answers when the host attempted to press him on whether the city would comply with federal immigration officials and why the mayor declined to sign a measure declaring Birmingham a sanctuary city.
"So, Birmingham has always been a welcoming city, Kasie," Woodfin said. "And I think this conversation about what will the city of Birmingham do, or not do, is a very interesting question."
He continued, "I think our police force is literally focused on the public safety of our citizens. We're focused on gun violence. We're focused on the things that we deem necessary to keep citizens safe. We also have a priority to hire more officers. And so, we're already short officers, if that makes any sense. So, our key priority is making sure that we are actually policing our streets. Our priority is making sure that we can tackle gun violence."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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