President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump offered sharply different initial reactions to the news that a driver intentionally ran down New Year celebrants on Bourbon Street early Wednesday morning, killing at least 15 people and injuring 35.

Biden began his statement by reporting that he’s receiving briefings from federal officials and New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and then expressed his thanks “for the brave and swift response of local law enforcement in preventing even greater death and injury.”

Trump immediately sought to score political points with strongly worded language.

“When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true,” he posted on Truth Social.

Trump added falsely, “The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before.”

In fact, crime has dropped sharply since the pandemic, with the number of murders declining sharply since a high in 2022, according to Jeff Asher, a New Orleans-based crime analyst.

Trump also expressed concern for the families and loved ones of the victims and also “the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department.”

Biden said federal, state and local officials are working “assiduously to get to the bottom of what happened as quickly as possible and to ensure that there is no remaining threat of any kind.”

Biden added, “There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”

Trump offered similar language, saying, “The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!”

Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

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