FBI proves it: Republicans spent 2024 pointing to a crime 'wave' that didn't exist
Leading GOP voices spent the 2024 campaign season claiming that crime rates were through the roof. The FBI just proved them wrong.
Republicans, eager to scare the public, spent the 2024 campaign season desperately trying to convince Americans that the U.S. was in the midst of a devastating crime wave.
As new evidence from the FBI proves, they were brazenly lying. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-08-06T12:55:06.111Z
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/fbi-proves-republicans-spent-2024-pointing-crime-wave-didnt-exist-rcna223331
In 2023, the third year of Joe Bidens presidency, crime rates in the United States declined significantly, despite public perceptions. As NBC News reported, the good news continued in 2024:
Statistics released Tuesday by the FBI indicate that violent crime decreased overall in the United States by 4.5% last year. ... According to the FBI, murder and nonnegligent manslaughter decreased an estimated 14.9%, robbery decreased an estimated 8.9% rape decreased an estimated 5.2%, and aggravated assault decreased an estimated 3.0%. Property crime also decreased an estimated 8.1% from 2023 to 2024, and hate crimes decreased an estimated 1.5%, the report found.
To be sure, none of this comes as a big surprise. After a spike in crime rates toward the end of Donald Trumps first term, national data showed improvements throughout the Biden era.
The FBIs findings did stand out in a political context, however, in large part because the facts made clear just how brazenly many Republican leaders lied to the public during the 2024 campaign season......
We know why they were all lying leading GOP voices clearly believed that if Americans were scared of crime, they might be more likely to vote for Republicans but that doesnt make their campaign of brazen deceptions any less offensive.
As for the incumbent president, Trump hasnt yet commented on the evidence he implored people to disregard, though if recent history is any guide, the odds are good that hell describe the new data as rigged. Whats more, its not yet clear whether FBI Director Kash Patels job might be in jeopardy for releasing information to the public that the White House finds politically inconvenient.