Lawrence O’Donnell often tries to wax poetic on his MSNBC show, The Last Word, but he’s really just an unserious person speaking in a solemn tone. On Wednesday, O’Donnell tried to claim that Union Station in Washington, D.C. doesn’t have a crime problem and cited a movie released in 1939 and a man who hasn’t been a senator since January 2009 to make his point.
As White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Vice President JD Vance went to Union Station to thank the National Guard troops for their service and confronted protesters along the way, O’Donnell looked back:
The iconic Amtrak railroad station through whose glass doors Jimmy Stewart first saw the Capitol Dome when he arrived in Washington. In Frank Capra's classic film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, there were no soldiers in the shot when Jimmy Stewart's character, the newly appointed Senator Jefferson Smith, arrived at Union Station. And there have never been troops at Union Station. In the decades of both the 20th and 21st century that I've been arriving at and departing from Union Station in Washington, D.C.
O’Donnell then got personal, “I've never once seen a crime committed there. I've never once felt even slightly at risk there. I don't know anyone who has.”
Maybe that means O’Donnell needs to meet more people. In February, a man was murdered in the Union Station parking garage. In March, a group of six juvenile girls was arrested for assaulting a woman. If O’Donnell wants to move the goalposts and say those are anecdotal, consider this lead from a December 2022 Axios article, “Vacant shops and rising crime are just a few reasons that an increasing number of Washingtonians steer clear of Union Station except to catch a train.” While some try to claim the situation has improved, according to crimedatadc.com, the Union Station neighborhood is the worst in the city for vehicle theft.
Nevertheless, O’Donnell then added:
Before jet travel. Most United States Senators arrived in Washington at Union Station and departed from Washington at Union Station. One United States Senator whose career crossed from the 20th century into the 21st century passed through Union Station to and from work every Senate work day of his 36-year career as a senator. Senator Joe Biden was in a position to have security at Union Station strengthened if he thought it was necessary. For 36 years, Senator Joe Biden walked through Union Station alone, to and from the Amtrak train that delivered him home to his children in Delaware every night.
O’Donnell also doubted Republicans actually care:
Union Station is safer than the elementary schools of this country where our children go to school every day. It's safer than the high schools of this country, where our children go to schools every day and where children are subjected to the assault weapon fire of mass murderers every year in our schools with body counts that should be a call to action for anyone working in government, but not one Republican elected official in Washington has ever tried to stop mass murderers in our elementary schools and our high schools and colleges.
Of course, O’Donnell just means Republicans don’t support gun control. Meanwhile, O’Donnell literally said he is unaware of any crimes being committed at Union Station when a simple Google search reveals plenty. Who is the one that is in denial?
Here is a transcript for the August 20 show:
MSNBC The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
8/20/2025
10:04 PM ET
LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: The iconic Amtrak railroad station through whose glass doors Jimmy Stewart first saw the Capitol Dome when he arrived in Washington. In Frank Capra's classic film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, there were no soldiers in the shot when Jimmy Stewart's character, the newly appointed Senator Jefferson Smith, arrived at Union Station. And there have never been troops at Union Station. In the decades of both the 20th and 21st century that I've been arriving at and departing from Union Station in Washington, D.C.
I've never once seen a crime committed there. I've never once felt even slightly at risk there. I don't know anyone who has. Before jet travel. Most United States Senators arrived in Washington at Union Station and departed from Washington at Union Station. One United States Senator whose career crossed from the 20th century into the 21st century, passed through Union Station to and from work every Senate work day of his 36-year career as a senator. Senator Joe Biden was in a position to have security at Union Station strengthened if he thought it was necessary. For 36 years, Senator Joe Biden walked through Union Station alone, to and from the Amtrak train that delivered him home to his children in Delaware every night.
That Amtrak station is one of the jewels of the Amtrak system. It is the home of 56 stores and restaurants, including the eyeglass shop Warby Parker, where I got these, and other shopping mall chains. It now has a Shake Shack, the fast food chain that has been surging in the Northeast in recent years. Companies like Warby Parker and Shake Shack do not locate their stores in high crime areas.
They prefer to locate their stores in zero crime areas like shopping malls, and Union Station is basically a shopping mall with train tracks. Union Station is safer than the elementary schools of this country where our children go to school every day. It's safer than the high schools of this country, where our children go to schools every day and where children are subjected to the assault weapon fire of mass murderers every year in our schools with body counts that should be a call to action for anyone working in government, but not one Republican elected official in Washington has ever tried to stop mass murderers in our elementary schools and our high schools and colleges.
