2020 FactCheck: on Crime


Donald Trump: FactCheck: No, not endorsed by Portland's Sheriff

Trump said that he has endorsements from "almost every law enforcement group in the United States. I have Florida. I have Texas. I have Ohio. I have Portland--the sheriff just came out today and he said, 'I support President Trump.' "

Is that true about Portland, the site of ongoing police protests? No, Portland's Sheriff says it's not true. Excerpts from a 9/30 article in "The Hill" with headline "Sheriff from Portland quickly refutes Trump claim of endorsement":

"The sheriff of Multnomah County, Oregon, which includes Portland, quickly refuted President Trump's claim of an endorsement during Tuesday night's first general election presidential debate. 'I have never supported Donald Trump and will never support him,' Sheriff Mike Reese responded on Twitter. The sheriff added: 'Donald Trump has made my job a hell of a lot harder since he started talking about Portland, but I never thought he'd try to turn my wife against me!' "

Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck on First 2020 Presidential Debate Sep 29, 2020

Donald Trump: FactCheck: Yes, Trump aide said rioting & chaos helps Trump

[We checked if Biden was correct in this exchange about BLM protests:]

BIDEN: [Trump's] own former spokesperson said, "Riots and chaos and violence help his cause." That's what this is all about.

TRUMP: I don't know who said that.

BIDEN: I do. [Former White House advisor] Kellyanne Conway.

TRUMP: I don't think she said that.

[So we found this article from Business Insider magazine on Aug 27, 2020, headlined, "Kellyanne Conway says 'chaos and violence' after the police shooting of Jacob Blake is good for Trump's reelection"; excerpts:

"President Trump's close adviser, Kellyanne Conway, told Fox News that 'chaos and anarchy' following police shootings are good for Trump's reelection effort. 'The more chaos and anarchy and vandalism and violence reigns, the better it is for the very clear choice on who's best on public safety and law and order,' Conway said. Conway was referring to protests following the police shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, in Kenosha, Wisconsin this week.

Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck on First 2020 Presidential Debate Sep 29, 2020

Donald Trump: FactCheck: Hillary used term "super predators," not Biden

TRUMP: You did a crime bill, 1994, where you call them super predators. "African-Americans are super predators," and they've never forgotten it.

FactCheck: Did Biden use the term "super-predators"? No, not quite. Excerpts from Reason.com on Sept. 29:

Trump has attacked Joe Biden for his role in crafting the 1994 crime bill. It was Hillary Clinton, however, who infamously uttered the term "superpredators" back in 1996. (You can still find plenty of videos of floor speeches of then-Senator Biden railing against "predators" or generally demagoguing on the subject of violent crime.)

The rise of criminal justice reform as a major issue in politics has made the 1994 crime bill a liability for Biden, who has since apologized for his role in tough-on-crime legislation passed in the 1980s and '90s by large bipartisan margins.

In a speech last year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Biden said those bills "trapped an entire generation," and that "it was a big mistake when it was made."

Source: Reason.com Fact-Check on First 2020 Presidential Debate Sep 29, 2020

Joe Biden: FactCheck: Endorsed by 175 law enforcement officials

Trump said to Biden, "We just got the support of almost every law enforcement group in the United States. I don't think you have any law enforcement."

Is that true, that no law enforcement has endorsed Biden? We found this article dated Sept. 4 on Fox News, headlined "More than 175 current, former law enforcement officials endorse Joe Biden, slam Trump as 'lawless' president." Excerpts:

"Fox News first obtained the list of the Biden-supporting law enforcement officials, which includes former sheriffs and former police chiefs who touted the former vice president's experience 'keeping communities safe.'

"The endorsements come after a number of high-profile law enforcement organizations threw their support behind Trump. In July, the National Association of Police Organizations endorsed Trump, praising his 'steadfast and very public support' for law enforcement. NAPO did not endorse a candidate in the 2016 election but endorsed Barack Obama and Biden in both the 2008 and 2012 elections."

Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck on First 2020 Presidential Debate Sep 29, 2020

Donald Trump: FactCheck: Order on statues merely enforces existing law

Trump said that when demonstrators began tearing down statues and monuments, "I signed an order immediately. Ten years in prison."

Trump's actions simply directed the attorney general to enforce already-existing laws. The executive order doesn't create new laws or possible prison sentences. Trump issued the order that, among other things, directed the attorney general to "prioritize" certain cases of vandalism in accordance with "applicable law." The law has been around since 1964.

Source: CNN Fact-Check on 2020 Republican Convention speech Aug 28, 2020

Kristi Noem: FactCheck: No, BLM protests are mostly peaceful

Noem accused Democrats--and only Democrats--of running cities that have been taken over by "violent mobs" [by Black Lives Matter protestors].

Protests have taken place in at least 450 cities. They include large ones in Miami, whose mayor is a registered Republican. Protests also arose in smaller cities and towns in regions supportive of Trump. Noem's claim that the cities she spoke of were "overrun by violent mobs" is outright false. The protests in recent months were largely peaceful.

Source: NBC News Fact-Check on 2020 Republican Convention speech Aug 26, 2020

Donald Trump: FactCheck: falsely claims Biden wants to defund the police

WALLACE: George Floyd's murder has reignited the issue of racism in policing in this country. Can you understand why blacks would be angry at that?

TRUMP: Of course I do. Many whites are killed also. You have to say that.

WALLACE: I understand that.

TRUMP: I mean, many, many whites are killed. This is going on for decades. This is going on for a long time, long before I got here.

WALLACE: Why is it so bad right now?

TRUMP: Biden wants to defund the police.

Q: No, sir, he does not.

TRUMP: Look. He signed a charter with Bernie Sanders.

WALLACE: He says defund the police?

TRUMP: He says defund the police. They talk about abolishing the police.

(WALLACE VOICE OVER: The White House never sent us evidence the Bernie-Biden platform calls for defunding or abolishing police--because there is none. It calls for increased funding for police departments--that meet certain standards. Biden has called for redirecting some police funding for related programs--like mental health counseling.

Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck on Fox News Sunday 2020 Jul 19, 2020

Joe Biden: 1994: Billions for state prisons but fewer billions than GOP

In a campaign speech, former Biden claimed that his record on the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act had been "grossly misrepresented." He distanced himself from some of the key provisions of the law, including its billions in funding for states to build prisons: "I didn't support more money to build state prisons. I was against it. We should be building rehab centers and not prisons," he said.

He was misrepresenting his own record. Biden expressed unequivocal support, in both 1994 and in the years following, for the law's billions in funding to build state prisons. He argued in 1994 that the law should include less money for prison construction than Republicans wanted to spend--but he emphasized that he too wanted to spend billions.

Biden's campaign did not dispute our conclusion that Biden did support this kind of spending. Biden "was referring to how Republicans wanted to provide more money for prison construction than he felt was right," said a campaign spokesperson.

Source: CNN FactCheck on 2020 Democratic primary Jul 7, 2019

  • The above quotations are from Fact-checking on 2020 Presidential, Gubernatorial, and Senatorial campaigns.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Crime.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Donald Trump on Crime.
  • Click here for more quotes by Joe Biden on Crime.
2020 Presidential contenders on Crime:
  Democrats running for President:
Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO)
V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE)
Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC)
Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN)
Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Rep.John Delaney (D-MD)
Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA)
Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY)

2020 Third Party Candidates:
Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI)
CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Howie Hawkins (G-NY)
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Howard Schultz(I-WA)
Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN)
Republicans running for President:
Sen.Ted Cruz(R-TX)
Gov.Larry Hogan (R-MD)
Gov.John Kasich(R-OH)
V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN)
Gov.Mark Sanford (R-SC)
Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY)
Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL)
Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY)

2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:
Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA)
Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC)
Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK)
Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL)
Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX)
Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA)
Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA)
Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
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Page last updated: Dec 01, 2021