It Isn’t Racist to Prosecute Criminals

CNN’s Ronald Brownstein performed a public service this week when he published a column featuring a variety of sources stating outright what critics of the backlash against “progressive prosecutors” have so far only implied: Those who object to the permissive coddling of career criminals and are doing something about it are racist.

“From Florida and Mississippi to Georgia, Texas, and Missouri, an array of red states are taking aggressive new steps to seize authority over local prosecutors, city policing policies, or both,” Brownstein began. The conspicuous omission from this table-setting sentence of verdicts rendered by, for example, voters in places like San Francisco and Chicago or the Democratic president’s rejection of indulgent reforms to Washington D.C.’s criminal code is your first clue that something is off. Nevertheless, Brownstein plowed ahead with a tidy narrative about “red states” stripping “blue cities” of autonomy and invalidating the will of their voters, many of whom are minorities. And we all know what’s really motivating this civic initiative, right?

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

Featured Tags

CNN’s Ronald Brownstein performed a public service this week when he published a column featuring a variety of sources stating outright what critics of the backlash against “progressive prosecutors” have so far only implied: Those who object to the permissive coddling of career criminals and are doing something about it are racist.

“From Florida and Mississippi to Georgia, Texas, and Missouri, an array of red states are taking aggressive new steps to seize authority over local prosecutors, city policing policies, or both,” Brownstein began. The conspicuous omission from this table-setting sentence of verdicts rendered by, for example, voters in places like San Francisco and Chicago or the Democratic president’s rejection of indulgent reforms to Washington D.C.’s criminal code is your first clue that something is off. Nevertheless, Brownstein plowed ahead with a tidy narrative about “red states” stripping “blue cities” of autonomy and invalidating the will of their voters, many of whom are minorities. And we all know what’s really motivating this civic initiative, right?

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.