Fox News Discussion Turns Tense and Personal After Guest Points Out Crime is Actually Higher in Red States

Alex GriffingJul 14th, 2022, 2:45 pm

Fox News panel show Outnumbered had a liberal guest, Jenna Arnold, join the program Thursday and she diverted the show into a very tense, personal discussion about crime levels in the U.S. after she noted that “crime is higher in red and Republican states more than it is in liberal cities.”

The comment created a quick backlash from the other four panelists as Arnold took aim at a common theme on Fox News — rising crime in “blue” states and cities. Arnold later cited her sourcing, the public policy think tank Third Way, which published a report in March 2022 that found that in 2020 the “per capita murder rates were 40% higher in states won by Donald Trump than those won by Joe Biden.”

“I also think we have to look at crime in a really important, inquisitive, and civil way,” Arnold said in a discussion about criminal sentencing.

“If you look at counties and cities and states, crime is higher in red and Republican states more than it is in liberal cities. And so I think we have to stop saying, oh, it’s just this policy by this one governor or mayor, president, and really take a step back and say there are some defendants that want space there, some that don’t. And what policies are and aren’t working,” Arnold concluded, before her fellow panelists pounced.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry to say in blue cities crime is going up rapidly,” Kayleigh McEnany can be heard saying over cross-talk.

Arnold can also be heard citing “Lexington, Kentucky” and “Jacksonville, Florida” as examples of “red” cities where crime is sky-rocketing.

David Webb, a SiriusXM Patriot host and Fox News contributor, eventually got control of the conversation and took on Arnold’s assertion.

“Unlike you, I’ve actually interviewed, talked with, reviewed, I don’t know, thousands of cases from the criminal point of view,” Webb shot back.

“I have watched many cities regardless of red or blue. The criminal doesn’t look and say this a Republican or Democrat victim. The criminal doesn’t care how they register. They’re a criminal,” he continued.

“But the victim has a right and the victim has a right regardless,” Webb continued before lambasting progressive DAs for their sentencing guidelines. “It’s emboldened [criminals], and you’re seeing the rise in crime because criminals are now realizing they’re more in control of the system. It’s irrespective of red or blue, and it is a farce to sit here and detract just to red or blue,” he concluded.

McEnany, Donald Trump’s former press secretary, then jumped in saying:

No, it is not devoid from policy. The policies being put forward, they’re not just crazy blue policies anymore. They are anti-victim. We are in a place where the Democrat Party has become anti-victim, anti-police, pro-criminal, and we’re living in the lawlessness of New York City. You don’t believe me? Just come visit these streets.

“Wow. There’s so much to start with,” added Harris Faulkner.

“I do want to hit the statistics about Democrat-led cities and how dangerous it is right now in many of them. I want to hit that. I want to hit it hard,” she continued, noting a close friend of hers lost their brother to gun violence recently.

“In Chicago, we saw 55 people get shot and in one weekend, that’s what we learned. And then a few days later, we found out the number was 70,” Harris added.

“Okay. I mean, it is exhausting to think that we aren’t going to be honest about the rise in violent crime in Democrat-led cities. So we can cherry-pick where crime is rising in other lanes and in other categories. But let’s be real about the fact that, that’s the category we care most about,” Harris continued, before sharing a personal story:

And you do have a friend, me, and I don’t talk about the stalker who tried to kill me. I don’t talk about it because it’s a really low place. But the first thing he did when he got out was look for me.

And if they hadn’t told me, I don’t know that I would be here. That was a lot of years ago now. I partially don’t talk about it because I don’t want my girls to concentrate on it. It is reprehensible to consider not giving us a heads up as crime victims. And I don’t think that it is just bad policy. I think what we’re seeing now is a collection of the world’s only heart donors.

And we can’t tolerate that in a system that requires law and order.

“So tonight, I respect what you have read and what you’re looking at. But as a violent crime victim, I have to tell you, I want you to read more and read deeper,” Harris said, addressing Arnold.

“And when you quote those facts, bring your attribution, because some of it is some of us have lived it,” she concluded challenging Arnold to cite her sources.

“Thank you for sharing that story, Harris. I’m happy to provide the facts later. The sources it was Third Wave,” concluded Arnold.

Arnold is not the first commentator in recent months to try and take on the emerging narrative on the right that “blue” states and cities are more dangerous than “red” states and cities. The Atlantic reported in late June that “Gun deaths are almost twice as high per capita in the red places as in the blue.”

Meanwhile, CNN noted in March that “there are more gun deaths in Texas, by far, than in any other state, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” The same article also listed the “top states by gun death rates:”