There is an old saw that “figures don’t lie, but liars’ figure.” But sometimes figures do not tell the truth.
You will recall that a couple months ago the FBI had reported a 1.7 percent decrease in crimes across the country in 2021-2022. On the surface that did not seem right – especially with all the increases in serious crimes being reported in the news media. But it was what it was — the official report from the agency that is supposed to know.
Democrats leaped on that report like Hunter Biden on a nickel bag of Mary Jane. They used the report to undermine President Trump’s tough-on-crime messaging. They took credit for the reported reduction in crime. President Biden bragged about it.
They also hammered Trump on his concern over crimes being committed by the illegal aliens entering the United States in droves. They used “official reports” to say that the migrants were less criminally inclined than American citizens.
Weeell … the FBI recently “revised” their earlier crime numbers. Crime did NOT decline by 1.7 percent but INCREASED by 4.5 percent. Wow! That is a 6.2 percent correction. That means thousands of crimes – including the most serious — were simply not included in the initial report.
You may recall that ABC’s debate moderator, David Muir, used the now-debunked report of declining crime rates as a fact-check on Trump. Turns out that Muir’s entering into the debate was not only inappropriate, but totally wrong. He misinformed the viewers. (It should serve as yet another example of why moderators should not be allowed to fact-check. But that is an issue for future commentary.)
As it turns out, Trump has been right on crime. Not only are the new figures consistent with his claims – but they reflect the anecdotal opinions of millions of Americans who are victimized – directly or indirectly – by the higher crime rates. This is especially true of those in high crime areas – such as the segregated Black and Hispanic urban communities … those living along the open southern border … and those communities that are impacted by the arrival of large numbers of migrants, including criminals.
Democrat leaders view criminals as part of their base – although we rarely see polling on that demographic. The closest we have come to that are surveys that show the vast majority of prisoners vote (where they can) Democrat. That is why one of the Democrats’ policy planks is to expand voting rights to incarcerated or convicted felons – unless the convicted felon is Donald Trump, of course.
We know that Democrats pander to the criminal elements. Where Democrats govern, states’ attorneys use prosecutorial discretion to NOT indict certain classes of criminals. They routinely return violent criminals to the streets. They enact laws and rules that eliminate categories of crime – such as stealing merchandise valued at less than $900. Vice President Harris even raised money to bail out rioters, looters, arsonists and those committing personal violence.
Democrats use the reports that migrants commit fewer crimes than American citizens to dismiss the reality of the crimes they do commit – crimes that would not be committed if we had control of the border. MS-13 and Tren de Aragua gangs are both examples of illegal border crossers killing, robbing, raping and terrorizing American citizens.
Whether the relative crime rates are true or not, illegal border crossing adds to the number significantly – and unnecessarily. But Democrats have no interest in reducing the crime rate – unless it is merely by statistical manipulation, declaring certain crimes are no longer crimes or playing down migrant crime.
At the bottom line, there is a truth. The American people are being victimized by too much crime – of all kinds. It is increasing, not decreasing, because of the fact that Democrats have simply declared some crimes to no longer be crimes and ignored many others – or that carry out policies that encourage crime. The flood of Illegal border crossers ARE adding to the crime statistics. The Democratic Party has had a long and sad record of being “soft on crime” – and they are worse today than ever.
So, there ‘tis.