CNN’s Jake Tapper is getting plenty of praise for his Tuesday interview of Kellyanne Conway in which he pressed the presidential advisor to explain some of her and her boss’s misstatements. But he didn’t go far enough on one point.
President Trump has said several times that the murder rate is as at its highest point in 47 years. In a meeting with county sheriffs Tuesday, Trump stated this falsehood three times. At other times, he has said it’s been 45 years since America’s murder rate was as high as it is now.
Tapper called out Conway on these misstatements, saying:
“Earlier today, President Trump made a quote about the murder rate being at the highest level it’s ever been in 47 years. He said that and said nobody in the media reports on that. There’s a reason why nobody in the media reports on that. It’s not true. The murder rate is not at its highest rate it’s been in 47 years. It’s spiked a little. It went up a little. But it’s still much, much lower. It’s 4.98 people per 100,000 people. It’s dwarfed by the murder rates in the 1990s and before that in the 1980s.”
Tapper is correct. The murder rate is near a 45-year low. But he could have gone further. FBI data show that the murder rate nationwide experienced its largest single-year jump since 1971. That’s 46 years.
There’s a good chance Trump is conflating the murder rate with the rise in the murder rate. It’s not at all clear that Trump understands the difference. This possibility probably tells us more about Trump than the accusation he is lying. It seems that Trump is careless with facts, and that he doesn’t take the time to educate himself thoroughly before going public.
Either way, Tapper didn’t bring up this possibility. Instead, he simply called Trump a liar and left it at that. He missed an opportunity to do what journalists are supposed to do — not just speak truth to power but also to clarify and add insight and context for their audience.
Daniel Allott is deputy commentary editor for the Washington Examiner
