During a recent episode of his podcast, longtime sports commentator Colin Cowherd took a detour from talking about the upcoming National Basketball Association Finals and the ongoing Major League Baseball season to talk about former President Donald Trump's 37 felony convictions.
Cowherd, who said he identified more as a "moderate" than as a follower of any particular political party, began his monologue by saying he personally didn't see America the same way that Trump describes it in his campaign speeches. The Los Angeles-based sports talk radio host said that in his own experience, the America he's seen is prosperous, relatively crime-free and "happy."
“He’s trying to sell me an America that doesn’t exist,” Cowherd said on Friday. “I don’t see crime, I’m not stumbling over homeless people. I see happy people. Dodger Stadium is full, leads Major League Baseball in attendance. Laker games are full. NFL games are full. People have money in their pocket. LAX is packed, I just saw record airline revenue over the weekend."
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"I’m constantly being sold an America by Donald Trump of ‘crime rates are skyrocketing.’ No, they’re actually not. Starting in 2023 they have plummeted coast to coast," he continued. "You can’t keep selling me on how bad the country I live in is, because it’s not bad for me and my friends.”
Cowherd is right about crime rates declining. In April, the Brennan Center for Justice compiled data showing that violent crime rates fell significantly between 2022 and 2023.), particularly in Democratic-controlled, densely populated urban areas like New York City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Baltimore, Maryland. Notably, the murder rate fell by 13.2% year over year, with violent crime in general (which includes assault and armed robbery) falling by 5.7%. Even property crime rates declined by 4.3%. This marks the largest year-over-year drop in violent crime rates in roughly 30 years.
"Notable on their own, these declines also undercut politicized claims that crime is rising in 'blue cities,'" the Brennan Center wrote. "On the contrary, the data demonstrates that Democratic-led cities, which also happen to be some of the nation’s most populous, follow and in some cases lead the national trend toward decreasing violence."
Cowherd also opined that Trump's nearly three dozen felony convictions were the product of a political persecution. He noted that in addition to Trump, multiple members of his inner circle — like former trade advisor Peter Navarro, longtime confidant Roger Stone and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, among others — have also been convicted of felonies, with some of them serving prison sentences.
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"“Donald Trump is now a felon,” Cowherd said. “His campaign chairman was a felon. So is his deputy campaign manager, his personal lawyer, his chief strategist, his National Security Adviser, his trade advisor, his foreign policy adviser, his campaign fixer and his company CFO. They’re all felons. Judged by the company you keep. It’s a cabal of convicts.”
“If everybody in your social circle is a felon, I don’t think it’s rigged. I don’t think the world’s against you. And to get people to agree on anything, 34 counts? 0 for 34? That’s a batting slump even the New York Mets could be impressed with. O for 34," he added. "When you’re constantly trying to sell me on an America that I don’t see... Trump’s entire game plan is ‘The country is in a free fall.’ Maybe in the Trump-centric neighborhoods it is.”
Watch Cowherd's podcast segment below, or by clicking this link.
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