Seattle, Washington, like many other major urban centers across the United States, has experienced a surge in crime rates over the past few years that has become a top concern for most American voters, often second only to worries about the economy, particularly inflation and jobs.

Yet, when President Joe Biden flew across the U.S. on Air Force One from Washington D.C. to Seattle on Friday to celebrate Earth Day, he failed to mention even once that city’s growing problem with crime, the Washington Examiner reported.

Instead, he focused entirely on things like climate change, the environment, and preserving national forests and parks, among other things directly related to Earth Day.

Climate over crime, always and forever

Indeed, in his lengthy speech at Seward Park in Seattle, Biden shared numerous anecdotes about the environment and ran through a litany of achievements and goals of his administration related to combatting climate change.

He also took a few rather unsubtle shots at his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, who wasn’t exactly known for his devotion to environmentalism.

As noted, though, he did not discuss or even mention the crime wave that has swept Seattle over the past few years, which according to the Examiner recently surpassed the crime spike of 2020 and set a 14-year high in terms of crime statistics.

Those statistics show significant surges in the rates of crimes like aggravated assault, arson, carjackings, robberies, and other violent offenses.

Biden’s priorities are out of step with the American people’s concerns

To be sure, Biden and his acolytes will defend his speech as remaining focused on the point of Earth Day, celebrating and protecting our planet’s precious natural environment and resources.

However, the Examiner noted that polling has consistently shown that the vast majority of Americans are most concerned with the economy and inflation, followed closely by rising crime and violence, far more so than other issues like climate change or even the COVID-19 pandemic.

The disparity in the level of concern Americans have about crime compared to climate change is simply not reflected — in fact, it is completely reversed — in Biden’s proposed budget and spending priorities.

For example, the Examiner pointed to hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, potentially trillions of dollars combined, that have been already spent or earmarked for a wide variety of issues and programs related to climate change and environmentalism.

In comparison, though, NBC News reported that Biden’s latest budget only adds $1.7 billion in additional funding above prior spending levels for law enforcement at the federal and state level, and according to the Examiner, the only times that the president even makes mention of the recent rise in violent crime is about his incessant push for more gun control — another issue that polls low as a priority of the American people, but one that Biden can’t help but constantly focus on.