Tim Walz blames Trump for violent crime spike during Las Vegas rally

Gov. Tim Walz (D) of Minnesota is desperate to take back the headlines after his long list of scandals, mostly related to lies about his military service, has dominated the headlines over the past week.

The Democratic vice presidential candidate said that under former President Donald Trump, violent crime was actually higher.

According to Fox News, as the governor of Minnesota, murder rates actually increased in his state, according to crime statistics.

Walz, at a Las Vegas rally on Saturday, attempted to spin it to make it sound like Trump oversaw higher violent crime rates under his presidency.

"I just want to set the record straight, because facts do matter and there's not an alternative set of facts. Violent crime was up during the Trump presidency, and that's even not counting his crimes," Walz said at the time.

Fox News contributor Byron York dug into the statistics and quickly learned that under Walz's watch, Minnesota experienced a spike in violent crimes, including murders. He posted the statistic to his X account.

"It turns out that rise included an increase in Minnesota. Here are the numbers of murders in Minnesota, starting in 2018, the last year before Walz became governor," York wrote.

VP candidate Tim Walz in NV yesterday: 'I just want to set the record straight, because facts do matter and there's not an alternate set of facts. Here's one for you: Violent crime was up during the Trump presidency.' It turns out that rise included an increase in Minnesota. Here…

— Byron York (@ByronYork) August 11, 2024

Fox News provided more detailed statistics:

Walz was sworn in as governor in 2019. Data from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety reviewed by Fox News Digital shows that in 2018, the year before Walz took office, the state recorded 104 murders, a figure that increased by more than 12% in 2019, when the state recorded 117 murders. Murders in the state in 2020, when violent crimes spiked nationwide, skyrocketed to 185. In 2021, the state recorded 201 murders, 182 in 2022, and 172 last year.

As for the rise in violent crime, which spiked during Trump's last year in office, those statistics have been attributed to the nationwide riots and chaos that broke out regarding the George Floyd situation and similar riots.

The "Ferguson effect" has also been attributed the nationwide violent crime uptick, and is described as police officers pulling back in their duties for fear of being fired and worse for pursuing violent criminals.

On Walz's watch, that was more true than ever before. During the Minneapolis riots, thousands of buildings burned, violent crime spiked, and a once beautiful city was essentially turned into rubble.

Walz continues to struggle to make any significant gains in the polls as Vice President Kamala Harris's running mate.

There's no telling the lies and misinformation he'll spread in the coming months.