On the second day of a counterprogramming initiative timed with this week’s Democratic National Convention, former President Donald J. Trump stopped at the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office in a small town northwest of Detroit on Tuesday to talk about crime and safety — and disparage his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

What You Need To Know

  • Former President Donald J. Trump stopped at the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office in a small town northwest of Detroit on Tuesday to talk about crime and safety — and disparage his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris

  • Trump attacked Harris as a police “defunder” and a “Marxist prosecutor” who is “pro-crime"

  • His comments came amid a sharp decline in crime rates in 2024 compared to the year prior; the most recent figures from the Federal Bureau of Investigation show murder decreased 26.4%, rape decreased 25.7%, aggravated assault fell 12.5% and robbery decreased 17.8% in the first quarter of 2024 compared with a year earlier

  • Linking crime with immigration, the former president said he will seal the border on day one if he is reelected; illegal border crossings fell to their lowest level since 2020 in the wake of an executive order President Joe Biden issued in June sharply restricting asylum

“We’re here today to talk about how we are going to stop the Kamala crime wave that is going on at levels that nobody’s ever seen before,” he told the group of law enforcement officials, many of whom stood behind him in uniform. “She is, as you know, the most radical left person ever even thought of for a high office.”

The former president reiterated many of the insults he’s been lobbing since President Joe Biden stepped down from his candidacy and endorsed Harris. Calling her a police “defunder” and a “Marxist prosecutor” who is “pro-crime,” he said “Comrade Kamala” had presided over a 43% increase in violent crime, including a 58% increase in rape, an 89% increase in aggravated assault and a 56% increase in robbery.

While Trump said he was citing government numbers, the most recent figures from the Federal Bureau of Investigation show murder decreased 26.4%, rape decreased 25.7%, aggravated assault fell 12.5% and robbery decreased 17.8% in the first quarter of 2024 compared with a year earlier. And a new report from the Major Cities Chiefs Association shows the majority of U.S. cities whose law enforcement agencies provided preliminary data had lower violent crime figures between January through June this year compared to the same time period in 2023. 

“Crime in America is out of control,” Trump said, before citing July 4th crime statistics from Chicago, the site of the Democratic National Convention, and calling it “a war zone that’s worse than Afghanistan.”

Trump said Harris supported policies that “go after the police officer rather than the criminal,” calling her “the ringleader for this pro-crime and anti-police crusade.”

“Over the last four years, the left has taken away the dignity spirit and the life of some of these police officers,” he said. “That’s why crime is so out of control in our country.”

According to the FBI, law enforcement resignation and retirement rates increased from 18% in 2020 to 45% in 2021. Four of the country’s largest metropolitan police departments lost 5,400 officers in 2022 and 2023, according to the agency’s police executive research forum survey. 

“Kamala will deliver crime, chaos, destruction and death if she’s allowed to be president of the United States,” said Trump, adding that he would re-fund the police rather than de-fund law enforcement with record investments in hiring, retention and training of police officers. “I will deliver law, order, safety and peace and I will protect those who protect us.”

Linking crime with immigration, the former president said he will seal the border on day one if he is reelected.

“We’ll bust up and dismantle the gangs, save criminal networks and bloodthirsty cartels,” he said. “I’ll send Kamala’s illegal aliens back home where they belong.”

Trump took credit for radically reducing illegal border crossings while president and called Harris “the worst border czar in history.” (Harris was not the border czar; rather, she was tasked with addressing the root causes of migration.)

Arrests for illegal crossings at the southern border reached an all-time high in December but have been declining in 2024, falling to a three-year low in June, according to Customs and Border Protection — the lowest level since the Biden-Harris administration took office. In July, they fell again to their lowest level since 2020 in the wake of an executive order President Biden issued in June sharply restricting asylum.

On day one, Trump said, he will begin the largest deportation mission in U.S. history.

After citing several incidents of crimes committed by people in the country illegally — a situation created by other countries intentionally shipping their prisoners, terrorists and drug dealers to the United States, he said — Trump said he supports legal immigration.

“We’re going to stand up for law-abiding citizens of America,” he said. “We’re going to be an inspiration to the world, but we have to start by remedying the situation that was caused by somebody that right now is running for president of the United States.”

Harris' campaign accused Trump, who they referred to as a "34-time convicted felon," of lying about crime, "which skyrocketed on his watch, about policing, which he tried to defund, and about the January 6 insurrectionists who attacked police officers defending our Capitol at his behest."

“Donald Trump can’t bring us together so he tries to drive us apart," said Harris spokesperson Sarafina Chitika. "The American people will reject his failed leadership and divisive agenda this November.”