Two “Pinocchios” Aren’t Enough “Pinocchios” for Glenn Youngkin on Crime; In Fact, Virginia’s “violent crime rate was about half the rate for the entire United States” When McAuliffe Was Governor

If you’ve seen any Youngkin for Governor ads, you’ve almost certainly noticed his campaign’s fear mongering, demagoguery and dishonesty when it comes to Terry McAuliffe and Virginia’s crime rate during McAuliffe’s four years in office as governor. Now, the WaPo’s fact checker has taken a crack at Youngkin’s claims, slapping Youngkin with two “Pinocchios.” In fact, this is far too lenient by the Washington Post, which did a decent job as far as they went, but completely ignored a key fact: that, during McAuliffe’s four years as governor, *Republicans* controlled the General Assembly, including the House of Delegates by a huge margin – and the General Assembly is where laws get passed, last I checked. In other words, if there was such a big crime problem when McAuliffe was governor, why didn’t the Republican-controlled legislature DO something about it?!?  That alone should give Youngkin at least another “Pinocchio.” With that in mind, here are some highlights from the WaPo’s fact check:

• “When looking at all classes of violent crimes — including robbery and aggravated assault — Virginia was one of the safest states in the country during McAuliffe’s governorship, as the map below shows. The state’s violent crime rate was about half the rate for the entire United States.“
• “In McAuliffe’s last two years, as the homicide rate drifted above the U.S. average, the state nonetheless was the fourth safest in the country when looking at all violent crime, after Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire.”
• “Youngkin is deploying these statistics as part of a campaign theme that McAuliffe is ‘too dangerous for Virginia.‘ A voter who hears that ‘the murder rate went up 43 percent’ or that ‘the rape rate went up every year’ would take home a very different, much scarier, impression from one who hears that ‘Virginia was one of the safest states in the country’ or ‘the safest large state.’“

P.S. Also note that Youngkin’s campaign has been dishonest, evasive, etc. about just about *EVERYTHING*, not just crime. For instance, see VA Dems: “Glenn Youngkin was caught on video admitting that he’s lying to Virginians about his plans to defund Planned Parenthood and ban abortion”.