Here's What Donald Trump Got Wrong About the US During His RNC Speech

Impact

On what was arguably the most important night of his public life, Donald Trump gave the people what they wanted — passion, pageantry and promises of protection.

The real estate billionaire ominously made the case for why voters should hand over the reins to him, as he formally accepted the Republican presidential nomination Thursday. After fact-checkers combed through the hour-plus-long speech to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, it appeared Trump's impressions of U.S. crime, policing and immigration were exaggerated or flat out wrong.

"Our convention occurs at a moment of crisis for our nation," Trump said. "The attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life. Any politician who does not grasp this danger is not fit to lead our country."

He added: "When I take the oath of office next year, I will restore law and order to our country. Believe me, believe me."

Here are the things on which fact-checkers say Trump shouldn't be believed:

Crime

Decades of progress made in bringing down crime are now being reversed by this administration's rollback of criminal enforcement. Homicides last year increased by 17% in America's 50 largest cities. That's the largest increase in 25 years.

He's wrong here, according to the New York Daily News' fact checkers. FBI data show violent crime across the U.S. is at its lowest levels since 1970. 

While some cities did see an uptick in murders in 2015, 32 of 63 police agencies that report to the Major Cities Chiefs Association saw homicides decrease in the first quarter of 2016, the Washington Post reported.

Policing

The number of police officers killed in the line of duty has risen by almost 50% compared to this point last year.

He's way off here, the Post reported. The number of law enforcement officers killed by an assailant from January to July is up 6%, compared to the same period last year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Overall, police deaths have decreased in the past two decades. Most officers who die in the line of duty succumb to traffic-related incidents, according to the Post

Immigration

The number of new illegal immigrant families who have crossed the border so far this year already exceeds the entire total of 2015.

Trump's statistic is without the proper context. According to the Post, the number of undocumented immigrants apprehended at the U.S. southwestern border, in the fiscal year that began in October 2015 through June 2016, were slightly up. But family apprehension in the three fiscal years prior to 2015 were far higher than the current fiscal year, which ends in three months.

Trump is also acting as if unaccompanied minors, who are included in the apprehension numbers, count as families.

President Barack Obama, reacting to Trump's speech on Friday at a news conference, said the Republican candidate was pushing a false narrative. "I think it is important just to be absolutely clear here that some of the fears that were expressed throughout the week [at the RNC] just don't jibe with the facts," he said.

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