(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . ABC's Jon Karl fact-checks Tim Scott over his 'Biden causes violent crime' lies [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-16 Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) may be enjoying his 15 minutes, but history will not remember him. For this, he should thank his God. Because any memory of the man would be a case study in spinelessness. He is not alone. HIs name is carved into the pantheon of beta males who have sacrificed self-respect on the altar of political ambition. On this Sunday’s stop of his ‘Trump is my Lord and Master’ tour, Scott took his ass-licking oratory to ABC and chatted with Jon Karl. The subject was violent crime. Scott had something to say, the truth be damned. Karl played the spoiler role of fact-checker. It went about as well as these things do. Karl began by asking the VP wannabe his opinion of the Supreme Court's decision that bump stocks do not make a semi-semi automatic weapon a machine gun. However, before we look at Scott's answer, let us have some context. Here is a visual of the effect of adding a bump stock to a gun. The audio tells the tale — watch until the end. x Dear Clarence Thomas and far-right Supreme Court justices, Please tell the American people again how an AR-15 fitted with a bump stock is not a machine gun. Fuck y'all. Sincerely, the overwhelming majority of American people.pic.twitter.com/T4G4oFpD1I — Bill Madden (@maddenifico) June 14, 2024 “Accuracy is severely compromised, but accuracy isn’t really the point of full auto.” In other words, “spray and pray.” You may hit a bunch of innocent people … but self-defense, 2A, fuck you. Back to the show (video at the bottom). Karl starts: “The Supreme Court’s decision on Friday overturning an order — and executive action — by President Trump to ban bump stocks after they were used in what was and still remains the deadliest mass shooting in American history. Where are you satisfied with that? Any concerns about that decision? Scott starts by giving SCOTUS an 'attaboy.' “Jon, it’s simply this. We trust and believe and respect the decision of the Supreme Court.” It would have been interesting to see if Scott was as respectful of the Court’s decision not to ban the abortion drug mifepristone. Will we ever know? Scott quickly turned to his prepared talking point — violent crime. “What we need to focus on Jon is the violence that we’re seeing across this nation. Under Joe Biden, we have seen the greatest increase in violent crime in my lifetime. And so focusing on ways for us to reduce that crime means getting four more years of Donald Trump.” Scott’s answer is pure bullshit. Let us look at murders in America . In Trump’s first year in office (2017), there were 15,763 homicides. In his last (2020). there were 19,613 — a 24% increase. In Biden’s first year, there were 21,068 homicides. In 2024, America is on a pace to see 16,790 — a 20% decline. Let us look at the poster child for violent crime in the MAGA’s imaginary dystopia — Chicago. Murders have gone down in every year of the Biden administration by an average of 20% per annum. Ditto New York . Other violent crimes have seen both upticks and downticks. But for Scott to say, “We have seen the greatest increase in violent crime in my lifetime," is either manifest ignorance or depraved deception. Scott continues with his fawning fantasy: "Under Donald Trump, we actually respected law enforcement." Does Scott listen to himself? Trump, a convicted felon facing three more criminal trials, showed his ‘respect’ for law enforcement on 1/6/2021. And he plans to salt the wound by pardoning the Capitol rioters. Scott’s firehose of lying continues. “Under Joe Biden, we've seen the movement to defund the police, leaving communities like the one I grew up in devastated and ravaged by violent crime that we have not seen literally in five decades.” No one is defunding the police. Law and enforcement expenditures have gone up every year . More tellingly, blue states spend more per capita on cops than red states do. Scott’s home state, South Carolina, is at the bottom of the table (#45). Not that Scott will ever admit to any of this. Scott’s lies about everything. He was born in 1965. As a twenty-something, his community, like the rest of the US, was ravaged by the crack crime epidemic. Crime in America in the 2020s is nowhere near those heights. Karl returns to tell Scott that the Senator knows he is lying, "Actually Senator, as you probably know, the latest stats on violent crime and on the murder rate are actually down this past year. But let me get back to my question about the Supreme Court decision." Scott does not want to get back to Karl’s question. He produces one context-free, single-city stat to ‘prove’ there is a national crime calamity. He makes an evidence-free assertion. He admits that crime has plateaued — thus gainsaying his own argument. And he ends up with a sob story. "Let’s take a look at crime rates. We have seen over 4,000 shootings just in the city of Chicago. We've seen a spike in violent crime. It’s nice to see something plateau. But the fact of the matter is simple. Under Joe Biden, neighborhoods like the ones I grew up in have been ravaged [Karl tries to get a word in. Scott ignores him] Grandmothers, like the one who raised me, are trapped in their houses from the time the sun goes down until it comes up again. Will the dishonesty ever stop? Scott grew up in North Charleston, SC. It is a high-crime town. But even there crime is decreasing . The question Scott does not address is: What does Biden have to do with crime in a South Carolina city? The State governor, all partisan state-wide offices, and legislature are Republican. Both Senators are Republican. North Charleston is partially in Nancy Mace's (R) district. What are those people doing about the city’s crime? Joe cannot solve all of South Carolina's problems if local officials do nothing but cry and blame shift. The non-partisan Mayor, Reginald L. “Reggie” Burgess , is a lifelong resident. He was a North Charleston cop for 34 years — Police Chief for the last five. Is Scott claiming that Burgess — whom he probably knows — is ‘soft’ on crime? Back to the interview. Karl tries again. “So, to my question on bump stocks. Would you now favor a Congress acting to ban bump stocks? You said after that shooting in Las Vegas that if the vote came up, it would sail through Congress. So, are you in favor of that ban right now?” Scott throws out the obligatory 2A reference and ignores the question again. “Well, I am strongly in favor of the Second Amendment. What we're going to do in the party … “ Karl tries again. “I asked about the ban on bump stocks.” Scott then pirouettes like a ballerina. "We are going to focus on the priorities of the American people, and what the priorities of the American people are today is to focus on closing our southern border. Under Donald Trump ... " The video ends. Scott says he is a “man of God.” His God must love craven liars. 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