During last week’s “Red State vs. Blue State” debate, California Governor Gavin Newsom didn’t even try to repeat the Democratic claim that crime is down nationwide. Instead, he falsely claimed that “Florida has a red state murder problem.” In reality, new FBI data show violent crimes in Florida fell by nearly 32% in 2022 compared to 2019, while California saw violent crimes spike by more than 30%.

A new Gallup Poll finds that 63% of Americans describe the crime problem in the U.S. as either extremely or very serious, up from 54% in 2021.

Even more disturbing, a total of 28% say they or someone in their household has been victimized in the past year by one of seven different crimes: vandalism, car theft, burglary, robbery, armed robbery, sexual assault, and battery. That’s up from 20% in 2020. The Democrat solution: defund the cops!

Don’t believe us? As recently as May, a majority of House Democrats voted against a resolution that condemns efforts to defund or abolish the police. Lawmakers voted 301-119 to pass the resolution but House Democrats opposed it by 117 to 87. Three Democrats voted “present,” and all but two Republicans voted for it.