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Pete Buttigieg refutes Fox host's claim about violent crime in just 7 words

Our Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg accused Fox News host Lawrence Jones of “cherry-picking” data to claim Democrats aren't doing enough to protect black people from violent crime. Buttigieg then debunked that claim with a seven-word response that turned the tables and challenged Jones and his Republican position.

During the controversial interview, which took place the morning after the first night of the Democratic National Convention, Jones said: “Let's talk about the record of the Biden-Harris administration… If you look at crime, violent crime in 66 major cities is up almost 10% to 9.6%. Is that a record you can rely on?”

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Buttigieg responded: “I often wonder if viewers of this network are aware that violent crime has increased under Donald Trump. I think that deserves more coverage so we can ask ourselves why, and some of it has to do with politics.”

These seven words – “violent crime has increased under Donald Trump” – deserve closer examination.

However, while violent crimes – defined by the FBI as murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault – declined during the first three years of Trump's presidency, the violent crime rate rose in 2020 to 385.2 per 100,000 people – higher than any other year under Trump – largely due to social and economic unrest at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, WRAL reported.

As for Biden's record, while voters have increasingly expressed concern about violent crime since 2021, a May 2024 report from journalism research organization The Poynter Institute found that violent crime is near a 50-year record low. It states: “The FBI's violent crime rate for 2022, the most recent year officially available, was 370 per 100,000 residents. Since 1972, there have been only two years with a lower violent crime rate: 2014 and 2019.”

Buttigieg continued: “Some of the [the rise in crime under Trump] has to do with the message we send when Donald Trump, an unrepentant convicted criminal, runs against a prosecutor like Kamala Harris. We have an opportunity to send a message about whether we are serious about law and order in this country or whether this is just a talking point, whether it is just something that people want to exploit as a political issue for partisan political purposes.”

Jones, who is black, responded that he often reports on crime himself and does not use it for partisan political purposes. He added: “The people who are being killed all over the country look like me – they don't look like you – and they are angry because the Democratic Party is not taking this seriously.” [Democrats] sent the cavalry for you guys [during the convention]for your protection, but the people of Chicago don't see this every day. What will you do to stop the bloodshed in our community?”

Buttigieg said that during his time as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, “dealing with gun violence was the hardest part of his job, and the most heartbreaking part of his job was comforting mothers, or at least trying to comfort mothers who just wanted their child back.”

“The big question for politicians, for policymakers and for the media, I think, is who is going to help them and who is going to take advantage of them. … The question is, what are you actually going to do when you take office to actually confront gun violence?”

Buttigieg then said that 90 percent of Americans, including more than 80 percent of Republicans, support universal background checks. “But Donald Trump says no,” Buttigieg said. “The Republican Party says no.”

Jones interjected: “Over 20 people were shot last week, five over the weekend.”

Buttigeig said: “So why should we elect politicians who do nothing about gun violence?”

Jones said, “The city is run by Democrats. Name the Republicans who are in charge. Name a Republican who runs Chicago, name him.”

“Listen to me,” Buttigieg said, “because we haven't had these crime rates just under Democratic and Republican leaders, right? But if you're trying to cherry-pick for partisan political purposes, you want to play that game? Let's talk.”

Jones said he did not ask for partisan reasons and added: “I told you, Mr. Mayor, [the victims] looks like me, not like you.”

Buttigieg continued, “That's also the case in Boston, which has a much lower murder rate and also a Democratic mayor. We can talk about how Mississippi has a murder rate twice as high as Illinois. Now I can go around and say Mississippi has a murder rate twice as high as Illinois because Mississippi has a Republican governor and Illinois has a Democratic governor. But you and I both know that it just doesn't work that way.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Jones questioned President Joe Biden's mental fitness to continue serving as president. He asked Buttigieg when Democrats realized Biden was “not fit” to run for re-election. Biden dropped out on July 21 after a lackluster performance against Trump at the June 27 debate.

Jones noted The New York Times Reports that the 81-year-old president's Cabinet meetings were “planned out,” with pre-written questions and bullet-point answers to accommodate him, and that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reportedly had to take over negotiations with congressional Republicans on the debt ceiling for 2023. Jones also noted a Axios Report claiming that Biden is only able to work between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. every weekday.

“It's funny,” Buttigieg replied. “Sometimes I feel like the conservative media and the Republican Party still think they're running against Joe Biden… I think in any job, but especially as president, you want to be judged by your output – people want to nitpick about the showmanship of a Cabinet meeting.”

“We had a country that, when he took over, was in a state where you couldn't even go near the Capitol because of the violent attacks on the Capitol by Trump supporters,” Buttigieg added, referring to the riots of January 6, 2021. He then mentioned Biden's successes in rebuilding the country's economy and infrastructure.

“I just want to know, when did you know the president was unfit to run?” Jones asked.

Buttigieg replied: “The president is not unfit, …”

Jones asked, “Then why is he not the candidate at the moment?”

Buttigieg responded: “Because he did something that Donald Trump cannot understand. He put his ego aside.”

When Jones repeated his initial questions about the news reports on Biden's work, Buttigieg replied: “That's the point. You can talk about whether [Biden] slips up and says one name when he means another, or you can look at what he's actually accomplished as president. It turns out he's really good at being president of the United States.”

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