President Donald Trump has made many claims about gun violence in the US during his two-and-a-half-week presidency, particularly as it pertains to Black Americans, the city of Chicago and undocumented immigrant and many of these claims have proven to be false.
But, on Wednesday morning President Trump actually provided correct statistics on the rates of violent crimes during an address to the National Sheriffs’ Association.
According to Trump, the overall murder rate in the US’s 30-largest cities has climbed “by double digits” in 2016, “more than 4,000 were shot last year alone” in Chicago, and “60 percent of murder victims under the age of 22 are African American.”
All which have proven to be true according to an FBI annual crime report and a 2016 crime analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice.
These factual statements came just one day after Trump falsely claims the US murder rate is the highest “it’s been in 47 years” despite FBI data showing the murder rate at a 45-year low in 2015 and violent crime still remaining “near the bottom of the nation’s 30-year downward trend,” according to the Brennan Center analysis.
Though the President’s statements were statistically true, they still lacked holistic analysis of how education and economic disparities contribute to violent crime and murder rates, especially among young people of color.
Trump ultimately used these numbers to justify his recent travel ban, his plans to build a wall on the US-Mexico border, and the need to increase police presence in cities with heightened violent crime.
“My message today is that you have a true, true friend in the White House,” the President said to a room of law enforcement leaders. “I stand with you. I support our police.”
