It's not just Fox News, and it's not just the right-wing. That's something that you've absorbed from a screen.
My black, middle-class, Democratic-voting father and stepmother who certainly were alive during the early 90s (when I was a teenager and actually on the south side Chicago streets, in danger) think that crime is higher than ever before. Democrats have absolutely spent most of their time trying to convince them that it definitely is, except when targeting Republicans, or trying to defend terrible mayors.
Tough on crime is almost the only thing second-term Democratic presidents run on. Focusing on crime, at whatever level, is always a suitable distraction for the dumb middle-class (R or D). The only thing that comes in second is focusing on poor people's diets. There will always be crime, and always be people eating badly; and are you pro-crime and pro-junk food on your dime?
> One could argue that this is affecting Trump himself, whereby domestic policy is shaped around what he sees on TV and social media (where was he seeing videos of "bombed out" Portland, anyway?).
More than argue. It's not just him, though, it's completely out of touch wealthy people who think of politics as a hobby, and are constantly bombarded with local news that consists entirely of crimes. There's no concept that the fact that they heard about 2 murders and 10 robberies today within a metro area of 10 million people doesn't give them any understanding at all of current crime prevalence. Or that they hear about street crimes, but don't hear about domestic ones. Or hear about violence but don't hear about financial crimes.
They've all got a story of somebody they know who was affected by street crime, too. One incident that a hundred people get to cite.
Trump also is just consciously playing middle-class dimwits like everyone else.
My black, middle-class, Democratic-voting father and stepmother who certainly were alive during the early 90s (when I was a teenager and actually on the south side Chicago streets, in danger) think that crime is higher than ever before. Democrats have absolutely spent most of their time trying to convince them that it definitely is, except when targeting Republicans, or trying to defend terrible mayors.
Tough on crime is almost the only thing second-term Democratic presidents run on. Focusing on crime, at whatever level, is always a suitable distraction for the dumb middle-class (R or D). The only thing that comes in second is focusing on poor people's diets. There will always be crime, and always be people eating badly; and are you pro-crime and pro-junk food on your dime?
> One could argue that this is affecting Trump himself, whereby domestic policy is shaped around what he sees on TV and social media (where was he seeing videos of "bombed out" Portland, anyway?).
More than argue. It's not just him, though, it's completely out of touch wealthy people who think of politics as a hobby, and are constantly bombarded with local news that consists entirely of crimes. There's no concept that the fact that they heard about 2 murders and 10 robberies today within a metro area of 10 million people doesn't give them any understanding at all of current crime prevalence. Or that they hear about street crimes, but don't hear about domestic ones. Or hear about violence but don't hear about financial crimes.
They've all got a story of somebody they know who was affected by street crime, too. One incident that a hundred people get to cite.
Trump also is just consciously playing middle-class dimwits like everyone else.