Trump vows to shield police from legal accountability during Michigan rally
Howell, Michigan - During a recent campaign stop in Michigan, Donald Trump made several big promises in an attempt to gain support for his re-election efforts from law enforcement.
On Tuesday, Trump gave a speech at the Livingston County Sheriff's Office, where he accused his rival, Kamala Harris, of leading an "anti-police crusade" that will implement "extremist, pro-crime, anti-police" policies if she wins the 2024 presidential race.
"Kamala Harris will deliver crime, chaos, destruction and death," Trump claimed. "I will deliver law, order, safety, and peace. And I will protect those who protect us."
Trump went on to argue that "the Marxist left" has "taken away the dignity" of officers, which has caused crime to go "out of control in this country" and their jobs to become difficult.
"We're going to get rid of that difficulty, because [police] shouldn't have difficulty," Trump stated. "We're going to be guaranteeing immunities."
The former president also blamed President Joe Biden and Harris for "a 43% increase in violent crime" since they took office, attributing said crimes to immigrants and Black Lives Matter protesters
"It's just insane, but you can't walk across the street to get a loaf of bread," he claimed. "You get shot, you get mugged, you get raped, you get… whatever it may be."
Is violent crime on the rise as Donald Trump claims?
Trump's plea to law enforcement comes as Harris has gained the lead in a number of battleground states, including Michigan.
He also became the first-ever former president to be convicted of a crime earlier this year and is facing over 80 felony charges and other prosecutions, many of which will not make it to court until after the election in November.
While he claimed during his speech that crime has been on the rise, it turns out that the opposite is true – official statistics actually show that under President Biden, crime has nearly reached a 50-year low.
Trump had agreed to do an interview with The Detroit Press after his speech, but when the outlet asked him to confirm his crime data, "a campaign aide said the presidential candidate no longer had time for an interview."
Cover photo: NIC ANTAYA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP