Former President Donald Trump claimed at this year’s CPAC that President Joe Biden has presided over a spike in “bloodshed, chaos, and violent crime,” a statement the Brennan Center for Justice asserts is “misleading the American public about current crime trends.”
On Inside with Jen Psaki, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano (2009-2013) was asked to comment on Trump’s claims about crime.
Napolitano replied: “First of all, for former President Trump to run as a so-called law and order candidate, it would be like me saying I play in the NBA.” After she and Psaki laughed, Napolitano added, “It just doesn’t hold true.”
Former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano: “For former President Trump to run as a so-called law and order candidate, it would be like me saying I play in the NBA.” pic.twitter.com/l8MsKmpjvr
— Inside with Jen Psaki (@InsideWithPsaki) April 7, 2024
Napolitano noted there was “a terrific spike in crime really during the end of the Trump presidency during the pandemic” and noted that last year “saw the largest one-year decrease of violent crime nationwide than we had since around 1960.”
According to the FBI, as of 2022 violent crime rates had fallen by 4 percent and murder rates by roughly 7 percent since 2020. Preliminary data suggests those declines accelerated in 2023, while crimes like residential burglaries (-3%), nonresidential burglaries (-7%), and larcenies (-4%) all dropped.
Prior to her cabinet position, Napolitano was Governor of Arizona (2003-2009), Arizona’s Attorney General (1999-2003), and Arizona’s US Attorney (1996-1997).
Note: After serving as Homeland Security Secretary, Napolitano became the president o f the University of California. In 2017, she helped the University file a lawsuit against the Trump administration for its decision to ultimately end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), making her the first former secretary of homeland security to sue the agency she once led over a policy that she created.
In June 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Trump administration’s attempt to end DACA.