For years, conservatives have invoked crime in blue states and cities to convince suburban voters that Democratic leadership goes hand-in-hand with increased crime rates.
Ahead of the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump used thinly-veiled racist and sexist dogwhistles to tell "suburban housewives" that expanded housing options would bring crime to their neighborhoods. Even more than a year after Trump vacated the White House, conservative media continues to invoke images of cities burning, describing cities from New York to Portland as anarchistic hellholes.
But new data from the think tank Third Way paints a much more complex picture in its examination and comparison between violent crime rates in states that vote Republican and those that vote Democratic. The data was compiled from the most recent annual crime reports released by state governments.
According to Third Way, eight of the 10 states with the highest murder rates voted for Republican nominees in every presidential election since 2000. What's more, states that voted for Trump in the 2020 election had a per capita murder rate 40 percent higher than those that went to Biden.
The authors—Kylie Murdock and Jim Kessler—concluded in short:
"The rate of murders in the US has gone up at an alarming rate. But, despite a media narrative to the contrary, this is a problem that afflicts Republican-run cities and states as much or more than the Democratic bastions."
They went on to claim:
"Whether one does or does not blame Republican leaders for high murder rates, it seems that Republican officeholders do a better job of blaming Democrats for lethal crime than actually reducing lethal crime."
Social media users shared the findings across the internet.
Reminder: GOP has no clue on crime-fighting.
Ex: SF and Jacksonville, Fla., have similar populations.
Jacksonville has a GOP mayor, state attorney (& governor).
👉🏼Jacksonville had “128 more murders” than SF in 2020.
GOP-run states have a murder problem.https://t.co/oJAfrNh4EH
— gil duran (@gilduran76) April 7, 2022
It's Republican led States and cities with the highest murder rates. GQP lies and their constituents die. https://t.co/8YwWKVRO85
— JMc 🇺🇦 (@JamesonCapital) April 8, 2022
This is really astounding. Things have changed in the last two years, but the reporting on crime is SO biased.https://t.co/jyBVG8VggS
— Chris Dawson #BLM (@xrd) April 7, 2022
Conservative blowhards trying to portray #murder rates as a Democrat problem. Did you know that in 2020 per-capita murder rates were 40% higher in states won by #Trump than those won by #Biden? https://t.co/LsNXI8kC7h
— Tom Krattenmaker (@TKrattenmaker) April 6, 2022
The next time someone says violent crime is caused by Democrats, cite the numbers in this report. For instance, 8 of the 10 most violent states are red, not blue. https://t.co/LitW3hYPkD
— Thomas Abt (@Abt_Thomas) April 5, 2022
Yet another Republican fake news talking point debunked. https://t.co/UwZBXK6ROF
— Pepe7474 (@ThePepe7474) April 5, 2022
Some pondered why it seems so much reporting is on blue state crime.
How many times have you seen this breathlessly reported in our media?
The Red State Murder Problem https://t.co/DP16QOe3uN
— Thom Hartmann (@Thom_Hartmann) April 6, 2022
There was a piece I read (wish I could remember source) about large & powerful PR teams within police departments/unions. They push stories to the media about cities w policies they don’t like. It’s why we hear about SF crime & very little about this: https://t.co/EA6ZMU7onV
— Jan Marie 🇺🇦 (@i_am_jan_marie) April 2, 2022
Why don’t we hear about the high murder rates in cities with Republican mayors like Jacksonville, Tulsa, and Oklahoma City? It’s pretty simple: The national media covers bigger cities like LA, which have less than 1/3 of the murder rate, much more closely.https://t.co/D9IkNuXjiq
— George Gascón (@GeorgeGascon) March 26, 2022
The blue state crime narrative won't be evaporating for Republicans any time soon.
