Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas argued that race was driving President Donald Trump’s crackdown on crime in major U.S. cities like Washington, D.C. because they are run by Black mayors.

On Monday, Trump deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C. and federalized the police department to crack down on crime in the area. During a press conference, he listed several other cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Baltimore and Oakland as other places that are being harmed by crime.

While speaking to CNN’s Kate Bolduan on Wednesday, Lucas pointed out that many of those major cities have Black mayors, such as himself, and believed that both race and politics are primarily behind Trump’s more recent attacks.

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"I won’t say that’s the totality of it, but I absolutely think it is," Lucas said. "You’re trying to create a counterpoint often in politics. And what is a better counterpoint than Donald Trump in whatever way you see him, and a mayor? Black women mayors have been the subject of lots of attacks." 

Lucas listed Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass as an example of someone Trump likes to "pick fights" with and encouraged others to also fight back even if their cities are experiencing high crime rates.

"And by the way, this is one of the best fights to pick, because what I have to sit in front of you and say is, yes, there are homicides in my city. Yes, there is crime. But we don’t think the same prescription of help is necessary," Lucas said. "It’s a tough position. But I think, frankly, this is the situation we’re in. And he’s not really interested in trying to save lives for us, but just exploiting the political issue."

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Lucas remarked that his city is unlikely to be targeted by Trump because of their Republican governor, and "it’s not as interesting from just a broader political point."

"This is nothing but a wedge issue against American cities and against American mayors who largely don’t have the same megaphone to respond," Lucas said.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Black woman, has called Trump’s National Guard move "unsettling and unprecedented" and has repeatedly argued that the city is not experiencing a spike in crime. 

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A Northern Virginia school district voted to keep its transgender bathroom policy in defiance of a U.S. Department of Education directive to rescind the policy or risk punishment.

At a closed-session meeting on Tuesday, the Loudoun County school board voted 6-3 to keep its gender identity policy, which allows students to use the locker rooms and restrooms that correspond with their gender identity. 

The district was one of five Northern Virginia school districts urged in July to drop its transgender bathroom policy, after an investigation by the Education Department's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) found the schools to be in violation of Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in education. 

The OCR issued a proposed resolution agreement to resolve the Title IX violations. The districts were asked to rescind these policies voluntarily or "risk imminent enforcement action, including referral to the U.S. Department of Justice." 

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon warned in an interview with WJLA that schools could lose federal funding if they did not comply with the changes.

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Loudoun County was the first district to formally respond, according to WUSA9, saying it was open to discussing the matter but wouldn't agree to the Trump administration's terms "at this time."

A Loudoun County Public Schools' spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the district remained committed to ensuring every student feels "safe, supported, and able to thrive" while it complies with applicable law. 

The board claimed its policy was in line with legal precedent from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit protecting transgender students.

The district said that the Education Department's determination that such policies conflict with its interpretation of Title IX creates "a direct tension between federal agency guidance and binding judicial authority."

"As a result, they asked LCPS (and four other school divisions in Northern Virginia) to sign a proposed resolution agreement. After consultation with legal counsel, the Board voted 6-3 not to comply with this request due to the tension between the OCR position and current law. We will continue to monitor developments closely to ensure continued legal compliance and the protection of all students."

"Our priority remains the same: doing what is right for Loudoun County’s young people; focusing on educating our students and ensuring our schools are places where every child feels they belong," the statement concluded.

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The district's gender identity policy, called Policy 8040, has been embroiled in controversy since it was adopted in 2021. 

A Loudoun County father made national headlines that year after he accused the school board of covering up the sexual assault of his daughter by a male student wearing a skirt in the girls' bathroom.

Earlier this year, three LCPS high school students were investigated after they complained about sharing a locker room with a biological female student, who identified as male. The school's handling of the incident spurred a probe by Virginia’s Republican Attorney General Jason Mirayes into the district's gender policies and launched a Title IX investigation by the Justice Department.

The Biden administration finalized Title IX regulations in 2024 to expand protections for LGBTQ+ students, interpreting the law’s prohibition on sex discrimination to include gender identity and sexual orientation. 

SCANDAL-PLAGUED SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERRED TO DOJ AFTER ANOTHER TRANSGENDER LOCKER ROOM CONTROVERSY

Shortly after taking office, Trump's Department of Education notified K-12 schools that it would be reversing Biden's re-write of Title IX and enforcing these protections on the basis of biological sex in schools and on campuses.

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The Department of Education did not immediately return a request for comment.