'Uhhhh': Trump short-circuits as local TV anchor pushes back on dubious claim

Donald Trump immediately floundered when asked by a local TV anchor to identify his source from claims about crime statistics in Venezuela.

The former president appeared Tuesday morning on Detroit's WJBK-TV ahead of a campaign rally the following day in Tittabawassee Township, Michigan. He capped off a brief interview with anchor Roop Raj by citing a version of a statistic he frequently uses in speeches.

“One stat before we go," Trump said. "Venezuela was very crime-ridden. They announced the other day [a] 72 percent reduction in crime in the last year. You know why? They moved all their criminals from Venezuela right into the good old U.S.A., and Biden let them do it. It's a disgrace.”

Raj gently pushed back, asking where Trump was getting those numbers, and the ex-president stammered.

“Uhhhh, I guess I get them from the papers in this case," Trump said. "I think it's a federal statement or, well, they're coming actually from Venezuela. They're coming from Venezuela.”

Raj appeared skeptical, saying, “We'll have to check on that” before thanking Trump for his time and inviting him to debate President Joe Biden in Michigan.

"I'll be there, I'll be there," Trump said. "Thank you very much."

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Politifact recently examined a similar claim Trump made about foreign nations emptying their prisons and mental health facilities and sending those people to the United States, and he told a pair of rally audiences on April 2 in Wisconsin and Michigan that crime in Venezuela had dropped by 67 percent for that reason.

Venezuela's government doesn't publish reliable crime data, but an independent monitor reported a 25 percent drop in violent deaths between 2022 and 2023 in the South American nation. The Venezuela Observatory of Violence noted the national rate was high compared to other countries in that region.

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