Florida Senator Rick Scott (R) hosted a press conference with Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo), Ron Johnson (R-Wis), and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo) to bring attention to data from the National Crime Victimization Survey, released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) last Thursday. The data refutes claims by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris that violent crime is decreasing. According to the DOJ’s survey, violent crime, including rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, increased from 5.6 incidents per 1,000 people in 2020 to 8.7 incidents per 1,000 people in 2023.
“Democrats have campaigned on defunding police, allowed millions of potentially dangerous individuals and tons of deadly drugs to come across our border, and stood by in silence as terrorist sympathizers took over college campuses,” Scott said. “These failures have consequences and the American people know Vice President Harris and her friends in the media are lying when they falsely claim that violent crime is down.”
Results from the survey also revealed that an average of 1 in every 44 people reported being the victim of a violent crime in 2023, and robberies increased by 52.9% between 2021 and 2023.
“Recently released DOJ data shows when President Trump was in office, violent crime fell by 15 percent and has since soared by 55 percent under the Biden-Harris administration,” Scott said. “I talk to parents every week who tell me they are terrified about the safety of their kids. We have the best law enforcement in the nation working hard every day and putting their lives at risk to keep our communities safe. If Democrats care about our country, they will end their soft-on-crime agenda, shut down the border and stand with America’s law enforcement to keep families safe.”
