A “communist”, accused of wanting to “destroy” Washington and welcoming “criminal illegal immigrants” there. Donald Trump demonstrated his usual sense of moderation on Sunday June 28 regarding the probable future mayor of the American capital, Janeese Lewis George.
Of the same political color as the democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, the current city councilor of New York, Janeese Lewis George won the Democratic primary in Washington in mid-June. With the city having voted 90% for Kamala Harris in 2024, the 38-year-old Democratic candidate has every chance of taking the reins of the capital in the next elections, in November, where no Republican should run as a candidate.
His designation aroused the displeasure of American President Donald Trump. “Many people, myself included, have worked long and hard…we will not let the city be destroyed by a communist who has no intention of MAKING WASHINGTON GREAT!” », he got annoyed.
Progressive agenda
Coming from a family that had lived in Washington for three generations, Janeese Lewis George moved away from the capital to study political and government science, before obtaining a doctorate in law. At the same time, the young African-American works as a saleswoman and waitress. At the same time, her family was evicted from their home due to an increase in rent, an episode that would have a lasting impact on her.
After law school, she began her career as a prosecutor specializing in criminal cases in Philadelphia. In 2016, she returned to Washington to be closer to her ailing father and joined the office of District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine, where she specialized in cases involving juveniles.
The Washingtonian has established herself as a figure in the political life of the capital. Elected to the municipal council in 2020, Janeese Lewis George has defended a progressive line since the beginning, which she puts at the heart of her municipal campaign. Its program notably provides for free childcare, capping rents, eliminating wages below the minimum wage, as well as banning rental evictions during episodes of extreme heat.
Openly anti-Trump
But what provokes the ire of the American president is a bill aimed at putting an end to cooperation between the city’s police and the federal immigration police, the controversial ICE. “Janeese Lewis George, the communist who will almost certainly be elected mayor of Washington DC, said she wants to empty the prisons (…) oppose ICE, welcome criminal illegal immigrants back into our beloved capital,” Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social network.
The president seems to have made the future of the capital his priority for months. He, who has repeatedly tried to put the capital back under the control of the federal authorities, is now focusing all his attention on large-scale restoration work in Washington, sometimes leading to failures as with the reflecting pool of the Lincoln Memorial. He had also printed his face on numerous ministries and tried to attach his name to the Kennedy Center, before having it banned by a judge.
The people of Washington watched these upheavals helplessly. The current mayor, Muriel Bowser, has also been criticized for her attitude considered too conciliatory towards the American president. Janeese Lewis George, who presents herself as the anti-Trump candidate, promises to stand up to him on all fronts. But the task promises to be arduous. Washington DC is not part of any state and depends on federal power: laws passed by the city council can therefore be blocked by Congress. A constraint which risks complicating the possible mandate of Lewis George.
