Watch Trump Spox Hogan Gidley Falsely Claim ’65 Percent Reduction in Crime’ Thanks to ‘New Border Wall’

Deputy White House Press Secretary Hogan Gidley made a pair of false claims when he told reporters that a “new border wall” is responsible for a “65 percent reduction in crime” in the city of Calexico, California.

The ouster of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen hasn’t strengthened the Trump administration’s grasp of the truth, if Gidley is any indication. During a gaggle with reporters on the White House driveway Monday, Gidley scolded reporters for focusing on the “palace intrigue” surrounding Nielsen’s departure, and objected when a reporter called Nielsen the “face of the crisis” along the border.

“The new border wall that was built at Calexico, they’ve seen a 65% reduction in crime, and these are violent crimes along the southern border,” Gidley said. “That’s the face, those are the people who are affected by that, it’s American citizens, it’s the people who live in those communities and have to deal with that on our daily basis.”

The first false thing that Gidley said was that there is “new border wall” that has been built in Calexico. The “new border wall” to which Gidley refers is actually replacement fencing for existing barriers, despite the plaque that has been affixed to it claiming otherwise.

But Gidley was also wrong about the “reduction in crime” that he cited. It comes from remarks Border Patrol chief Gloria Chavez made at a roundtable with Trump on Saturday.

“The use of force incidents — which are more important to me than anything because it’s assaults and incidents that directly affect our Border Patrol agents doing the job on the border — they dropped by 65 percent in those two miles of 30-foot border wall,” Chavez told Trump, adding “So the border wall works for us.”

Aside from calling the fence a “wall,” Chavez’s comments are also misleading because the category of data she describes — “use of force incidents” — includes not just assaults on agents, but also “use of force incidents, reportable firearms discharges, and vehicle pursuits by CBP law enforcement agents and officers.”

A reduction in these types of incidents may well be a positive thing, but it definitely does not constitute a “65 percent reduction in crime,” and does not correlate with “new border wall,” but rather with replacement fencing.

Watch the clip above, via C-Span.