I mean, I hate to call someone a liar outright. That's kind of rude. But when someone makes an objective assertion about reality and is corrected, numerous times, and continues to do so, they are either lying or insane.
And I'm kind of hoping it's "lying."
I mean, this isn't "We're in grave danger" or "I am the winningest" or "They loved me at that speech." Those have enough subjective wiggle room to be able to say, "Wow, you live in a strange little world of your own" and just shake your head.
This is different. This is numbers. And when you are corrected on numbers, but refused to believe them … well, we get back to "lying" or "insane." I mean, it's really that simple.
'The murder rate in our country is the highest it's been in 47 years, right? Did you know that? Forty-seven years. I used to use that — I'd say that in a speech and everybody was surprised, because the press doesn't tell it like it is. It wasn't to their advantage to say that. But the murder rate is the highest it's been in, I guess, from 45 to 47 years.'
It's not. This is simply false. And he's been told this, on numerous occasions.
These are not press numbers. These are US government numbers. These are the FBI Uniform Crime Reports.
https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2015/crime-in-the-u.s.-2015/tables/table-1
https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/press/htus8008pr.cfm
The most recent year that's been reported is 2015. The rate, according to the FBI, was 4.9/100K people. That's a slight bump from the previous 4 years — the rate was 4.8 to 4.4 between 2010 and 2014.
Prior to that? Every year between 1965 and 2010 the rate has been higher than is currently is. In 1970. the rate was 7.9. In 1980 the rate was 10.2. In 1991, the rate was 9.8. Those are numbers all much higher than 4.9.
Those are the real numbers. Pres. Trump has access to them. He's been shown them and told them when he's made the same claim in the past. To be willfully wrong is — well, I keep coming back to "lying."
And, for the record, violent crime overall shows the same thing, dropping to historical lows. As has property crime.
We live in historically crime-free times. I know that makes it difficult to wave the red flag about lawlessness and evil and the need to stomp all over civil liberties to bring it under control, but lying about problems isn't going to make them any better.
See also:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fact-check-trump-makes-false-claim-about-murder-rate/
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/07/513952870/in-meeting-with-sheriffs-trump-repeats-false-murder-rate-statistic
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-falsely-claims-u-s-murder-rate-45-47-year-high-article-1.2966361
http://reason.com/blog/2017/02/07/trump-says-crime-is-at-highest-level-in
http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-murder-rate-debunked-2017-2
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/ap-fact-check-trump-botches-murder-rate-45333612
Even the right-wing site Townhall is running the AP story on this: http://townhall.com/news/politics-elections/2017/02/07/ap-fact-check-trump-botches-murder-rate-n2282876
Fox News appears to be strangely silent.
And past corrections to Trump's similar statements:
http://www.factcheck.org/2016/10/trump-wrong-on-murder-rate/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/11/03/trumps-false-claim-that-the-murder-rate-is-the-highest-its-been-in-45-years/
And, no, 4.9 homicides per 100,000 people is not a happy number. I'd prefer the number be zero. And, yes, there's been an uptick in crime in certain areas that need to be addressed. But, again, I repeat, lying about the overall problem is not the right way to start doing so. And, of course, it's lying.
Trump falsely claims US murder rate is ‘highest’ in 47 years
President Donald Trump continues to decry a record-high murder rate that simply doesn’t exist.
Every time he opens his mouth, he confirms how inadequate he is to be in that position. A buffoon travesty of a president
That's just the lying FBI. What do those fools know?
Dave, again I say we are in a post factual world. Facts only matter to the left, which is why any time someone on the left lies, the right and the Press pounce on them and beat them until they are so shamed they leave in disgust. Sadly, the only Dem politician that understood this was Bill Clinton, someday they rest of the left will figure out the game and realize that facts only matter if the person you are attacking has a sense of shame.
Our murder rate is 1 per 100000. Pity we don’t have guns to keep us safe.
Interestingly the biggest drop in crime comes 15-20 years after lead in petrol is banned. While correlation isn’t proof of causation, every country that bans lead sees steep falls in crime 20 years after, the theory is it is probably due to no lead poisoning of pregnant women . Good luck with losing the EPA