The primary elections are over and now District residents and while votes are still being tallied, D.C. Councilmember Janeese Lewis George is expected to be the next mayor of Washington, D.C.
But just days before the elections, President Donald Trump seemingly attempted to throw a monkey wrench into the race, when a reporter asked him about New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and he compared him to Lewis George.
The president indicated that if Lewis George, who like Mamdani, is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), won the D.C. mayoral race, he would have to take over the city.
The only thing to say to such a threat, is to repeat the iconic question posed by child actor Gary Coleman on the sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes” (1978-1986): “What’choo talkin’ ‘bout, Willis?”
Like Coleman who portrayed Arnold Jackson, many are wondering why the president would make such an outlandish comment.
But more troubling, is America’s president proclaiming that if one candidate, whose political ideology differs from his, is chosen in a fair and open election, he would be forced to send in federal officials to oversee the city.
The president said he “wouldn’t like it,” and said if Lewis George won, his administration, “maybe would take back Washington, run it on the federal basis.”
“We won’t put up with it,” Trump said. “We’re not going to lose our businesses.”
To be clear, the president does have the authority to take temporary control of the city’s police department and to deploy the D.C. National Guard, which he did last year. But it would require an act of Congress for him to unilaterally revoke the District’s right to self-government.
Some politicians have openly criticized D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser for maintaining a cooperative relationship with the president, including Lewis George. Maybe that’s what got under the president’s skin.
Whatever the case, District voters, in the first election with ranked-choice voting, made the decision to select Lewis George, despite Trump’s words.
While the president offered idle threats, it is clear D.C. residents are still independent, competent thinkers.
