donald trump leaned into your anti-immigrant rhetoric when he made a complaint about immigration from Venezuela to America. But the former president had difficulty supporting his claim when asked about the origin of his statistic.
Trump, the presumptive Republican Party nominee, ended an interview with Fox 2 Detroit anchor Roop Raj saying, “One statistic before we go. Venezuela was very dominated by crime. They announced the other day a 72% reduction in crime last year. You know why? They transferred all their criminals from Venezuela straight to the good old USA and [President Joe] Biden let them do it. It’s a shame.”
Raj asked Trump: “But sir, where do these numbers come from?”
Trump fumbled his response: “Uhhh, I think I got it in the papers in this case. I think it’s a federal declaration or, well, they actually come from Venezuela. They are coming from Venezuela.”
“We’ll have to look into that,” said Raj, whose full interview with Trump will be broadcast on Thursday.
FOX 2’s Roop Raj comes face to face with former President Trump. Abortion, immigration, states’ rights… a wide-ranging “nothing off limits” interview Thursday on FOX 2. pic.twitter.com/uKIbgjm1oc
– FOX 2 Detroit (@FOX2News) April 30, 2024
Trump has already made a similar claim about the effect that Venezuelan immigration to the US is having on his own national crime statistics – but with a different number.
“Crime is down 67% in Venezuela because they are taking their gangs and their criminals and depositing them very nicely in the United States,” he told supporters at a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, just April 2.
PolitiFactthe non-profit US political fact-checking website, described this example of Trump’s approach as exaggerated.
Crime It is it has decreased in Venezuela, he noted, but not by the huge percentage that Trump claims. As it is difficult to obtain official figures, it could be around 20% to 30%. The website also cited local sources who say this is due to several other factors – including the economy and the consolidation of organized crime – and not, as Trump says, the emptying of its prisons into America.
