Local TV Anchor Catches Trump Off Guard With A Simple Question

Donald Trump leaned into his anti-immigrant rhetoric when he made a declare about immigration from Venezuela to America. But the previous president then struggled to again up his assertion when quizzed on the supply of his statistic.

Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, ended an interview with Fox 2 Detroit anchor Roop Raj by saying: “One stat before we go. Venezuela was very crime-ridden. They announced the other day 72% reduction in crime in the last year. You know why? They moved all their criminals from Venezuela right into the good old U.S.A. and [President Joe] Biden let them do it. It’s a disgrace.”

Raj requested Trump, “But sir, where are those numbers coming from?”

Trump floundered in response: “Uhhh, I guess I get them from the papers in this case. I think it’s a federal statement or, well, they’re coming actually from Venezuela. They’re coming from Venezuela.”

“We’ll have to check on that,” stated Raj, whose full interview with Trump will air Thursday.

Trump has made the same declare in regards to the impact that Venezuelan immigration to the U.S. is having by itself nationwide crime stats earlier than ― however with a special quantity.

“Crime is down in Venezuela by 67% because they’re taking their gangs and their criminals and depositing them very nicely into the United States,” he advised supporters at a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, solely on Apr. 2.

PolitiFact, the nonprofit U.S. political fact-checking web site, described that occasion of Trump’s spin as exaggerated.

Crime is down in Venezuela, it famous, however not by the large share that Trump claims. As official figures are exhausting to return by, it could possibly be by round 20% to 30%. The web site additionally cited native sources saying it’s all the way down to various different components ― together with the economic system and the consolidation of organized crime ― and never, as Trump tells it, the emptying of its prisons into America.