Republican National Convention 2024: Republicans are pushing a false crime narrative

“Horrible crimes. Murders. Gang attacks on our police officers. Child sex crimes. And the brutal murder of a nursing student on a university campus.”

Such rhetoric was heard by Republican convention attendees in Milwaukee on Tuesday after a disturbing video depicted a dystopian version of Joe Biden’s America, with a deep voice that sounded like something out of a 2000s action movie trailer.

The theme of the second night of the Republican National Convention was “Make America Safe Again,” and the list of speakers repeatedly criticized Biden’s record on crime and migrant: Retired police officer Randy Sutton said there was a “war on police.” Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said Biden “treats police officers like criminals and criminals like victims.” Texas Senator Ted Cruz declared that with a Biden presidency, “your families are less safe, your children are less safe, and this country is less safe.”

But Republican spokespeople’s talk of crime being out of control is divorced from reality.

While crime rates have indeed increased during the pandemic, recent data shows Crime rates are falling nationwide. According to the FBIIn the first three months of 2024, murders were down 26% and robberies were down 18% compared with the same period last year. But that didn’t stop Republican spokesmen from singling out heinous crimes and drug overdoses throughout the night to paint an image of lawlessness and chaos.

So why do Republicans continue to push their “Make America Safe Again” message despite data showing that the country has become safer? The answer is simple: Most Americans believe Crime is getting worseso this isn’t a particularly difficult message to convey.

The convention made it clear that the Republicans would run again Law and Order Movementusing racist tropes and dog whistles to stoke fear among voters. However, their insistence that the city is crime-ridden is not only a means of stoking voter fear; it is also a window into how they will approach public safety legislation if Donald Trump wins in November.

Since the outbreak began, conservative opposition to progressive criminal justice reforms, including lower sentences, has grown. Join the Republican Party Of the tough-on-crime legislation passed over the past year, the Republican response to the 2020 crime surge has been even more harsh and extreme.

For example, Louisiana has passed a A series of punitive measures These include imposing harsher penalties for various crimes and reducing parole eligibility, and even allowing 17-year-olds to be tried as adults rather than in the juvenile justice system.

Republican politicians have also been outspoken critics of progressive district attorneys who take a softer approach to prosecuting minor crimes. 2025 ProjectHeritage Foundation’s blueprint for a second Trump administration calls for Justice Department Force local district attorneys to enforce The federal government is deciding what laws it sees fit — including far-right policies — rather than leaving it to local prosecutors, as has long been customary.

A Trump victory would embolden Republicans to continue rolling back the criminal justice reforms of recent decades that have reduced prison populations and lowered sentences for minor crimes. Updated and further strengthened The era of mass incarceration.

Surveys show that Americans tend to believe crime is rising even when it is not, but law-and-order campaigns have limited success. Lately, Republican propaganda has not necessarily paid off in elections.

For example, the 2022 midterm elections showed that Republicans’ scare rhetoric about crime is gaining momentum, according to the Vera Institute of Justice It doesn’t seem to resonate with voters.Republicans spent millions of dollars on campaign ads focused on crime and public safety, but while voters were concerned about crime, they didn’t necessarily believe in tougher policies, according to exit polls commissioned by Vera Action, a lobbying group allied with the Vera Institute for Justice.

There’s a reason, though, that Republicans are focusing their rhetoric on crime: Democrats have been on the defensive on the issue, despite data that favors them.

Rather than continuing to support progressive reforms to the criminal justice system, many Democrats have changed course and are pushing for tougher enforcement, fearing voter sentiment toward crime. This is the case in New York, where the Democratic governor Sending in the National Guard On Metro Patrol, in Oregon, Lawmakers re-criminalize drugs After voters in 2020 legalized it.

If the second night of the Republican National Convention was any indication, it’s that despite falling crime rates, the GOP’s old law-and-order campaign strategy is unlikely to go away anytime soon.