President Obama said the message from the Republican National Convention that the country is falling apart isn’t true, and said “some of the fears that were expressed throughout the week don’t just jibe with the facts.”
“This idea that American is on the verge of collapse — this vision of violence and chaos everywhere — doesn’t really jibe with the experience of most people,” Obama said at a press conference with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at his side.
“I hope most people walked outside [this morning] and the birds were chirping and the sun was out … and folks were going to work and getting ready for the weekend.”
While Obama said he didn’t watch the convention, he said he has read about “what was said” there. He rejected the GOP themes that the country is less safe and that the border is out of control.
Obama argued that the violent crime rate in America has been lower during his presidency than “any time in the last three or four decades.”
“And, although we’ve seen an uptick in murders and violent crime in some cities this year, the fact of the matter is the murder rate today and the violence rate today is far lower than when Ronald Reagan was president,” he said.
He acknowledged that the country has just gone through a “tragic period, in which we saw a tragedy in Minnesota and Baton Rouge,” and the “insanity and viciousness of people targeting police officers.”
“We’re all heartbroken by that, and we’re all troubled on [and looking for ways to] rebuild trust … But the rate of those intentionally killing police officers is significantly lower than when Ronald Reagan was president,” he said. “That’s the facts, that’s the data.”
On immigration, he said the American people rightly expect that border is “orderly and it is legal.”
“We have put unprecedented resources at our border,” he said. Obama also pointed out that the rate of illegal migration into the U.S. today is lower by two-thirds than it was when Ronald Reagan was president.
“We have far more illegal immigrants crossing the border today than we did in the ’80s or the ’90s or when George W. Bush was president,” he added. “That’s a fact.”
Obama downplayed his poll numbers that have often been below 50 percent.
“I think if you look at almost every year under every president over the last, I don’t know, 20, 30 years, you’re going to be hard-pressed to find a year in which the majority of Americans thought we were on the right track,” Obama said. “Maybe because all the good things that are happening in America don’t get reported on a lot. So I don’t think that’s actually unusual. But I appreciate you bringing up the fact that my poll numbers are doing OK.”
Obama didn’t have an opinion on whether the GOP message would resonate with voters.
“We’ll find out. That’s what elections are for,” he said.
