Trump Town Hall Special – Race/Crime
The Claim
- “[I have] tremendous African American support… Had we not been hit by this horrible disease ... we would be in a position where I think income inequality would be different. It was really getting there. We were really driving it down -- I can only compare it to the past”
- “[Sen. Tim Scott (SC)] had a plan [for police reform] that was very much of a compromise plan, but it was a plan that everybody pretty much agreed to.”
- “[Violent crime] is largely a Democrat problem if you just take a look at the list. Every Democrat city -- almost, not all, but a lot of them, certainly in the top 25, even if you go the top 50 -- almost every city is run by the Democrats.”
- "New York was a very safe city. Rudy Giuliani did a fantastic job. The city was safe and then, all of a sudden, we have a mayor -- he starts cutting the police force, and crime is up 100%, 150%.
News posted on
Emerging story
This past Tuesday, September 17th, marked precisely seven weeks until US 2020 Election Day and precisely two weeks until the first presidential debate. On this occasion, President Trump sat down with a room full of uncommitted voters in the battleground state of Pennsylvania in a 90-minute town hall special anchored by George Stephanopoulos and hosted by ABC News.
The forum gave uncommitted voters the opportunity to ask the president their questions on any and all election issues, and Misbar is taking the opportunity to fact-check the President’s answers in pursuit of viewing equity.
On a side note, ABC News also offered to host a town hall with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, but according to ABC, they and Biden “were not able to find a mutually agreeable date.”
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation into these claims reveals them to be false.
- Trump claims that he has tremendous African American support. This is a subjective statement. In reality, 42% of Black Americans support his presidency. Simultaneously, he claims that racial income inequality has decreased under him. In reality, racial income inequality has always remained stable since measurement began in the 1970s.
- Trump claims that “pretty much everyone” agreed to Sen. Tim Scott’s police reform bill. This is a subjective statement, similar to saying “many people” agreed. In reality, Democrats largely opposed the bill.
- It is true that violent crime mostly happens in large cities, and that 17 of the 20 cities with the most violent crime are run by Democrat mayors, correlation does not imply causation: just because Democrats are in charge of these places where violent crime happens does not mean they are necessarily responsible for the crime.
- Trump’s claim is true that under Rudi Giuliani New York City crime fell off a cliff, and it is also true that crime has increased dramatically under De Blasio, but due to long-term trends lowering crime overall, rates today are still lower than they were under Giuliani.
