Trump claims ‘we have brought down crime’ as he highlights falling stats at Iowa rally

CLIVE, IOWA: Donald Trump highlighted why the GOP must win the midterm elections this year and offered what he described as a clear justification for that argument. Speaking at an Iowa rally, he said, “We have brought down crime.”

He outlined efforts to reduce criminal activity in Washington, Louisiana, and Minnesota, and also claimed that just 2 percent of the population is responsible for 90 percent of crime.

Trump delivered these remarks roughly two-thirds of the way through his 59-minute speech on Tuesday, January 27, at the Horizon Events Center.

Trump touts crime drop, military strength

Donald Trump did not mince words as he took the podium at an Iowa rally, laying out why he believes the GOP should win this year’s midterm elections. He described what he said were declining crime rates across the country. 

"Let's go deep sea fishing today. Let's go on another boat, deep sea fishy. Sorry about that. But was down 97. We've done a job. I'll tell you, we made our country respected again."

Trump also emphasized the strength of the military and the impact of his administration’s policies on crime. "Greatest military. We have the greatest military, you know. I rebuilt our military in our first term, and we have the greatest military in the world, so you read much about Minnesota, where, unbeknownst to the public, we have brought down crime very substantially. In Minnesota, we've taken out thousands of heart criminals, hardened, vicious, horrible criminals."

He highlighted progress in other states as well, pointing to cities that had previously faced serious crime challenges.

"You know, read about. You don't read about things like Washington, DC, where there is virtually no crime, and it was horrible. A year and a half ago, Memphis, Tennessee, which was a real disaster. And now, it's that crime has dropped by 78 percent of the last Hillman, New Orleans."

Trump also pointed to Louisiana, saying targeted actions had led to sharp declines in crime.

"Louisiana was asked to help them with New Orleans. It was a disaster, and crime is down 54 percent and about three weeks. You don't read about that." " And we've done all of this by taking thousands of criminals out of these states. We took over two thousand out of Washington, DC."

He added, "These were criminals. if you remember about two percent of the population, it's a very simple business. Two percent of the population causes 90 percent of the crime. So, when you start decimating that two percent boom, that's why we have to grow."

Trump reiterated what he described as the dramatic effect of targeting a small percentage responsible for most crime. 

"Isn't that amazing? It's not that complicated. Is it in one year that we've achieved the largest drop in the murder rate in the history of our country? Dr*g overdose deaths are down by 21 percent, the largest drop ever recorded."

He concluded by stressing the ongoing fight against narcotics crime and his administration’s stance on dr*g cartels. "We've got to do better than me. And I've designated the dr*g cartels as foreign t*rrorist organizations. Big deal."

Crime rates hit historic lows nationwide

According to The White House Org, the United States has become safer under President Donald Trump’s leadership than at any point in more than a century. As per Axios, the m*rder rate in the nation’s largest cities fell last year to its lowest level since at least 1900, marking the largest one-year decline on record.

Alongside the drop in m*rders, the report said the country also saw sharp reductions in molestation, robberies, aggravated assaults, shooting deaths, the lowest since 2015, deaths of on-duty law enforcement officers, which hit an 80-year low, as well as traffic fatalities and dr*g overdose deaths.