On Tuesday's CNN Tonight host Jake Tapper gave an in-kind contribution to the Democrat Party by kicking off his low-rated program insisting that crime is not skyrocketing across the country. Despite all available reputable evidence crime is indeed up. Tapper can't admit that because that would upset his friends in the Democrat Party.
"The notion that violent crime is on the rise has left millions of Americans scared," Tapper moaned. Adding that the GOP is trying to "harness the power of that fear" for political gain.
Going into sanctimonious lecture mode, Tapper asked "is life in America actually more dangerous than it used to be?"
The question was rhetorical of course since he then claimed that "after years of decline, national rates of violent crime did rise during the COVID-19 pandemic."
"Between 2019 and 2020, the Trump years, the U.S. homicide rate rose about 30 percent. That's the highest increase recorded in modern history." Tapper failed to note that the dramatic rise in 2020 during the Trump administration was because of the Black Lives Matter terrorists who burned American cities and looted throughout the summer of 2020.
"Then in 2021, during Biden, the homicide rate rose 4.3 percent, according to the FBI," he added.
Continuing his campaign on behalf of Democrats, Tapper insisted "the overall violent crime rate, not only counting homicides, all violent crime, well that actually declined by one percent nationally according to the FBI. So nationally it appears homicides are up. The overall violent crime rate is slightly down. Regionally, though, where you live, well that's a mixed bag."
He then said with a straight face that weak on crime Soros-funded prosecutors who impose "criminal justice reform" on their cities see crime rates drop:
When crime rates go up, local prosecutors pushing criminal justice reform policies, they often get blamed. Is that fair? It's usually a lot more complicated than that.
Take Boston where the district attorney stopped prosecuting non-violent offenses. What happened there? Violent crime decreased by 15 percent in 2021. And take two cities that increased their police budgets. Indianapolis, Indiana, and Mobile, Alabama. They increased their police budgets and saw an increase in violent crime last year.
He ended his fact-free monologue by lecturing Americans that their personal experiences aren't based on reality. "Your personal experiences might not be reflected in data. If you don't feel safe, if you or someone you care about has been accosted or assaulted, that's your experience. Fear is primal. It's a crucial emotion."
Tapper is basically saying: Who do you believe? Me or your neighbors who informed you that your house was broken into when you were at work?
Of course, Tapper is wrong. Crime rates continue to surge even according to the flawed crime report from the FBI that Tapper quoted from.
This fact-free CNN segment was made possible thanks to the endorsement of Fidelity. Their information is linked.
To read the transcript click "expand":
CNN Tonight
11/1/2022
9:02:23 p.m. EasternJAKE TAPPER: The notion that violent crime is on the rise has left millions of Americans scared. And the GOP has tried to harness the power of that fear. Top Republicans condemned the Pelosi attack. They disputed that rhetoric pointed any role and instead, pointed the finger entirely at the issue of rising violent crime rates.
[...]
Is life in America actually more dangerous than it used to be? Here's what we know about crime at the national level. After years of decline, national rates of violent crime did rise during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Between 2019 and 2020, the Trump years, the U.S. homicide rate rose about 30 percent. That's the highest increase recorded in modern history. Then in 2021, during Biden, the homicide rate rose 4.3 percent, according to the FBI.
But, the overall violent crime rate, not only counting homicides, all violent crime, well that actually declined by one percent nationally according to the FBI. So nationally it appears homicides are up. The overall violent crime rate is slightly down. Regionally, though, where you live, well that's a mixed bag.
[...]
When crime rates go up, local prosecutors pushing criminal justice reform policies, they often get blamed. Is that fair? It's usually a lot more complicated than that.
Take Boston where the district attorney stopped prosecuting non-violent offenses. What happened there? Violent crime decreased by 15 percent in 2021. And take two cities that increased their police budgets. Indianapolis, Indiana, and Mobile, Alabama. They increased their police budgets and saw an increase in violent crime last year.
[...]
Your personal experiences might not be reflected in data. If you don't feel safe, if you or someone you care about has been accosted or assaulted, that's your experience. Fear is primal. It's a crucial emotion.
It mobilizes us to respond to life-or-death situations. Avoiding danger at all costs. You can hear the data. Violent crime might be down in your area. But if you feel there's a threat, that's real to you. And emotions motivate voters.
