Skip to content
Apply
Stories

Fact-checking Joe Biden’s comparison of violent crime and murders data

People in this story

Detroit Free Press, September 2020

Joe Biden told voters that President Donald Trump doesn’t have his facts straight when it comes to public safety, despite Trump’s attempts to cast himself as a law-and-order candidate and Biden as the symbol of chaos. 

“If Donald Trump wants to ask the question: Who will keep you safer as president? Let’s answer that question. First, some simple facts,” Biden said in Pittsburgh on Aug. 31. “When I was vice president, violent crime fell 15% in this country. We did it without chaos and disorder. And yes, we did it with Democratic mayors in most of the major cities in this country. The murder rate now is up 26% across the nation this year under Donald Trump. Do you feel really safer under Donald Trump?”

PolitiFact decided to fact-check Biden’s “simple facts.” We found that his claim is partly accurate and needs context. 

Continue reading at Detroit Free Press.

More Stories

He’s a Northeastern grad commanding a Coast Guard vessel in Guam

07.31.2026

What’s the extent of children’s exposure to a relative who is charged or jailed?

07.29.2026
The U.S. is seen in the background as Joiner, a 22-year-old migrant from Venezuela, hands his three-year-old daughter Ivanna to a fellow compatriot as they navigate the riverbed of the Rio Grande while searching for an entry point into the U.S. from along the international boundary between Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, at sunrise on April 20, 2024. REUTERS/Adrees Latif SEARCH

As migrants surge into Ceuta, do restrictive immigration policies work?

08.03.26
Northeastern Global News