The media – led by CNN – was up in arms.
They accused Donald Trump of telling a falsehood when he stated crime was up in Sweden because of a massive influx of migrants.
But when the facts came out, CNN ended up with egg on their face.
At a campaign rally in Florida, Donald Trump attacked advocates of open borders, mentioning the terrorist attacks carried out in Nice and Brussels, as well as the rising incidents of crime in Sweden.
Sweden took in over 160,000 refugees in 2015.
Some were concerned with the ability of these Middle Eastern migrants to assimilate to Swedish culture.
Others worried about the crime they would bring in.
When Trump mentioned the rising crime rate in Sweden, media personalities jumped at the chance to accuse him of lying.
Chief among them was CNN’s New Day anchor Chris Cuomo.
Cuomo tweeted that Trump was telling a falsehood.
People who see migrants as a scourge will make it a disaster. matters that he is wrong abt Sweden crime. proves he has to manufacture crisis https://t.co/sfbNhkfWcq
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) February 20, 2017
But was Trump wrong?
The numbers prove him right.
The New York Times reports rapes and assaults increased in Sweden last year:
“Preliminary data released last month by Sweden’s crime prevention council found no significant increase in crimes from 2015 to 2016, even with the influx of migrants. The council did note an increase in assaults and rapes last year, but it also recorded a drop in thefts and drug offenses. Still, a Pew Research Center survey last year found that 46 percent of Swedes said refugees were more to blame for crime than other groups.”
Ami Horowitz, the filmmaker whose segment on Fox News inspired Trump’s remarks, returned to the network to back up his claims with new numbers.
Fox News reports:
“Filmmaker Ami Horowitz defended his investigation of refugees in Sweden Monday night amid a blacklash after President Donald Trump cited his work during a campaign speech over the weekend.
“Between 2012 and 2016 the murder rate [in Sweden] is up almost 70 percent,” Horowitz told “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” citing the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention. “Rape between 2007 and 2015 is up a similar number, almost 70 percent. These are their statistics, not my statistics.”
The media loves to push this meme that Trump is a liar who can’t distinguish between fact and fiction.
But the numbers back Trump up and show that the media – and CNN – are the real peddlers of fake news.
