(Editor’s Note: The following opinion column does not constitute an endorsement for any political party, or candidate, on the part of Newsmax.)
ABC's Debate 'Fact Checking' Much More Than Misinforming Viewers
In the interest of accuracy, we'd like to propose that in the future when an outlet of the regime media conducts a presidential debate the "fact checkers" be renamed "false checkers."
That’s because, as was evident in the Trump/Harris debate on Sept. 10, the fact checks all proved to be false.
Let’s take the oleaginous David Muir.
His false check on former President Trump's assertion that "crime is through the roof," was downright condescending.
Muir interrupted, claiming, "President Trump, as you know, the FBI says overall violent crime is coming down in this country."
That statement reflects the worst sort of cherry picking.
Make no mistake, it was done in the interest of supporting Harris and undermining Trump.
In fact, the FBI statistics are barely a half-truth.
A case could be made that the FBI is cooperating with the left camp, by doing all it can to protect Team Biden on an issue highly vulnerable for them.
During the last year of the Trump administration 97% of all police departments in the U.S. reported crime data to the FBI.
Then, during one of the worst crime surges in the nation in 40 years, the FBI appeared to start cooking the books.
The bureau changed the way police departments were supposed to enter crime data.
The result?
The number of departments participating in the reports plunged.
According to John Lott, the president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, "In 2022, 31% of police departments nationwide, including in Los Angeles and New York, didn’t report crime data to the FBI.
"Another 24% of departments only partially reported data. So less than half of police departments reported complete data in 2022."
Muir claims crime is down when half the departments in the country either didn’t send data, or sent incomplete numbers.
What’s more, Muir’s FBI numbers rely on crimes reported to police.
Those numbers are going way, way down.
In the past approximately 40% of the violent crimes were reported to police (and that’s nothing to crow about) and an even fewer 30% of the property crimes were reported.
If victims believe nothing will happen even if the crime is reported, then why bother?
Victims have a point!
Law enforcement since "Saint" George Floyd died has collapsed.
Lott again, "And among cities with more than one million people (where most reported violent crime occurs), arrest rates plunged, by more than half, from 44 percent to 20 percent."
A more accurate gauge of crime is the National Crime Victimization Survey.
It's an analysis which asks up to 240,000 people annually whether they've been crime victims. In doing so, it attempts to measure both reported and unreported crimes.
What’s more, this survey is produced by the same Justice Department housing the FBI, and the numbers prove Trump’s point, which is why Muir seemingly ignored this data.
And the data is damning. Under Trump aggravated assaults fell by 24%.
Under the Biden/Harris administration aggravated assaults rose 55%.
Robbery fell 6% under Trump but skyrocketed 63% under Biden/Harris.
Rape was essentially unchanged under Trump.
It jumped 42% under Biden/Harris.
Trump was and is right. Crime is through the roof.
The numbers prove Muir and Harris may be polished, they may be smooth, but they're both complicit in outright misleading the American people, which is in and of itself, criminal.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Mr. Reagan is an in-demand speaker with Premiere Speaker's Bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now With Added Humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.