Nancy Mace demonstrates how easy it is to fear-monger on crime

You don’t need to click the video that Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) posted to X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday to be misinformed.

The text accompanying the video summarized its premise — “Since Joe Biden took office, crime has skyrocketed across our country.” — and that, by itself, is false.

But the video goes further, including exaggerations and debunked allegations to cast the past few years as unusually harrowing and dangerous ones for Americans.

This is an ad, after all, one promoting Mace’s reelection to Congress before South Carolina’s Republican primary. And ads are meant to sell something, not necessarily to accurately inform people.

Crime Rates and Misinformation

It is an ongoing frustration that reliable data about crime are compiled only belatedly. We looked at this in September 2022, as right-wing outlets like Fox News were gearing up their coverage of crime before the midterm elections. Fox and its allies insisted that crime was surging, often pointing to anecdotal incidents or cherry-picked numbers from specific cities.

1. The reality, revealed only once the FBI released its national estimate more than a year later, was that violent crime and homicide rates were lower in 2022 than in 2020, the last year of Donald Trump’s presidency. The property crime rate was about the same as in 2020, even after rising from 2021 to 2022.
2. The violent crime rate and property crime rates in 2022 were lower than every year of Donald Trump’s presidency. Only homicides increased, an increase that started during the year the coronavirus pandemic emerged. Partial data from 2023 indicates that violent crime (and homicide) continued to drop last year.

Other measures of crime offer a slightly different picture. The Bureau of Justice Statistics surveys Americans to gauge the frequency that people are victims of crime, regardless of whether they report it to the police. That data shows an uptick in 2022 — though the numbers were generally similar to those in 2018.

Immigration and Border Issues

This, again, is just Mace amplifying right-wing rhetoric. Trump and Fox News are pushing this politically potent idea. The video snippet included in Mace’s video showing a man displaying his middle finger to reporters — a snippet plucked from Fox News with on-screen text reading “MIGRANT IN NYPD ATTACK GIVES MIDDLE FINGER” — doesn’t show what she suggests. That incident that unfolded in Times Square was in heavy rotation on Fox earlier this year, offered up in the way Mace described it. But the dispute between police and the immigrants turned physical when an officer reacted to an insult one man had made. As for the guy with the middle finger? He wasn’t there at all. The district attorney exonerated him after his arrest.

Drug Smuggling and Fentanyl

It is not “okay,” of course. One of the ways we know that fentanyl is being smuggled into the country is that so much of it is stopped at the border — because it is not okay. Much of that smuggling, incidentally, is done by U.S. citizens who are better able to get into the country. Nearly all of the seizures occur at border checkpoints.

The number of deaths from fentanyl increased in recent years, including in 2023. That increase (like the increase in fentanyl seizures at the border) began in 2020.

Conclusion

There’s no real corrective that will work here. Fox News certainly isn’t going to hold Mace’s feet to the fire. There was, for a while, a “community note” on Mace’s post on X, the social media platform’s means of allowing users to add context or corrections to claims being made. It pointed out that the data don’t support Mace’s claim, but that note no longer appears.

So the ad remains there, making an indefensible claim and encouraging people to visit her campaign website.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Analysis

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

The article discusses the issue of crime rates and misinformation surrounding them. This connects to SDG 16, which aims to promote peaceful and inclusive societies, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels. It also connects to SDG 3, which aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, as it mentions the impact of crime on citizens’ safety and well-being.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• Target 16.1: Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere.
• Target 3.4: By 2030, reduce by one-third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being.

The article highlights the need to address crime rates and violence, which aligns with Target 16.1 of SDG 16. It also mentions the impact of crime on mortality rates, which relates to Target 3.4 of SDG 3.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Violent crime rate
• Homicide rate
• Property crime rate
• Frequency of crime victimization
• Number of fentanyl cases
• Number of fentanyl seizures at the border
• Number of deaths from fentanyl

The article mentions several indicators that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets. These include the violent crime rate, homicide rate, property crime rate, frequency of crime victimization, number of fentanyl cases, number of fentanyl seizures at the border, and number of deaths from fentanyl.

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

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Source: washingtonpost.com

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