A recent social media post from California’s Governor Gavin Newsom was intended to scold conservatives for accepting Trump’s arguments about violent crime during the Republican National Convention. While many hit back with questions about the legitimacy of the numbers, whether crimes have been reported, etc., it’s really not necessary to get into those weeds. It’s quite possible to let him have his numbers and still watch him lose the debate.
To explain, let’s first look at Newsom’s argument . . .
Reminder: Violent crime rates were HIGHER under Trump. pic.twitter.com/4r0TqpEsgs
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 19, 2024
In a nutshell, the Governor wants to point out that reported crime rates were higher when Trump was in office than they are under Biden. It allegedly doesn’t make sense to claim then that Trump policies would bet better than Biden’s, as both have been tried in the real world. And Newsom claims it’s clear that the Biden (and Newsom) approach to violent crime is the clear winner.
I don’t really care to spent time here and defend Donald Trump. He’s a big boy and he can defend himself on this point. Plus, he has millions of dedicated followers who quickly pointed out all of the issues with Newsom’s argument. This is a website about guns, not Republican politics (even if there’s a lot of overlap), so if you want some takedowns of Newsom’s half-baked rant here, feel free to read the replies over at Twitter or X or whatever Elon’s calling it as these days. That’s been done, and done well, many times.
Instead, I’m going to give Newsom’s argument enough rope to hang itself when it comes to guns and laws that limit their use and ownership.
Let’s first assume for the sake of argument that Newsom’s 100% right. Dem policy is good. Republican policy is bad. Biden is good. Trump is bad. Elect Biden. Don’t elect Trump. Because crime.
There’s just one problem left here…it’s devastating to Newsom’s anti-gun case.
Newsom and his buddies made a hysterical predictions when the Supreme Court forced states like California to issue concealed carry permits instead of denying people the right to lawfully carry.
A dark day in America.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 23, 2022
This is a dangerous decision from a court hell bent on pushing a radical ideological agenda and infringing on the rights of states to protect our citizens from being gunned down in our streets, schools, and churches.
Shameful.
While the Gun Control Industry’s tried and true “blood in the streets” cry isn’t explicitly stated, it’s in there. He claims that his state’s right to “protect our citizens from being gunned down” has been denied. So logic would dictate that such a poor decision by the U.S. Supreme Court would result in an increase in “gun violence.”
But that is a testable assumption. Now, two years after Newsom made that wild claim, he’s sharing data on crime to make a different point about Donald Trump. And this is exactly the data we need to see to determine if Bruen produced the dire results he said it would.
Let’s look at that data again, just to be sure we haven’t forgotten anything since we scrolled past it a minute ago . . .
Reminder: Violent crime rates were HIGHER under Trump. pic.twitter.com/4r0TqpEsgs
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 19, 2024
Since 2022, his numbers (whatever their accuracy) show that violent crime has only gone down. In fact, since the Supreme Court handed down the Bruen decision, the reported violent crime rates have gone down to levels not seen since before 2009, a time when most states didn’t have constitutional carry (29 have it now…and we heard the same warnings of apocalypse in each one).
Gavin Newsom wants to have it both ways. When the numbers are good, he’s out there touting low violent crime numbers to support Biden and Democrats’ policies. If the numbers had been bad, he’d be claiming it’s because of Bruen, permitless carry, gun industry greed, and Republicans’ pro-gun rights agenda.
It must be nice to use whatever “facts” are at hand to claim you’re always right…whatever the facts may be.
Newsom et al., speak with forked tongue.
“It must be nice to use whatever “facts” are at hand to claim you’re always right…whatever the facts may be. ”
In insurance they use to call it “twisting”, but in the vernacular of the street it is simply lying.
‘Both Ways’ as in AC/DC? Oh Jennifer, you naughty girl.