Past hoax · Filed Oct 16, 2026
Violent Crime Down Under Biden/Harris Hoax
Violent crime was down under Biden and Harris.
The claim
Violent crime was down under Biden and Harris.
What it was
The line used a federal series that did not count what cities were counting. The drop that was advertised was not the street.
Timeline
2023
The FBI’s first cut of 2022 violent crime is reported as a drop. The line becomes that crime is down under Biden and Harris.
2024
The bureau revises 2022. The revision shows an increase, not a decline.
Through election season
The first arrow stays in the graphics. The revision does not get the same tour.
The revision
The FBI’s later cut of 2022 shows violent crime up, not down. The graphic that said down is not remade at the same size.
What aired
Through 2024 the official line, repeated on CNN, was that violent crime was down under Biden and Harris. People who said their cities felt more dangerous were told they were watching anecdotes and voting their fear. The chart was the rebuttal.
The record
The FBI’s first publication of 2022 showed a drop in violent crime. The bureau then revised that year. The revision showed an increase, not a decline. The cheerful series was the one that had been on the air. The revision did not get the original tour.
Left out
Left out was what the first number was: a preliminary series with agencies missing, then a rewrite. Also left out was the gap between a national rate and a specific city, and the gap between reported crime and crime people stopped bothering to report. A revised federal table is not a neighborhood.
Why it stuck
It stuck because a downward arrow is a campaign asset and an upward revision is a nerd’s complaint. The arrow was simple enough for a full-screen graphic. The revision was a paragraph in a methodology note. Graphics beat notes.