During a conversation with Elon Musk on X’s Spaces Monday, former President Donald Trump made a suggestion that he might consider fleeing to Venezuela if he loses the upcoming election, claiming the South American nation is “far safer” than the United States.
In the two-hour interview, the former president argued that Venezuela is “emptying out” its prisons, sending criminals such as murderers and rapists to the U.S. southern border.
Trump said, “If something happens with this election, which would be a horror show, we’ll meet the next time in Venezuela because it’ll be a far safer place to meet than our country.”
He further claimed that Venezuela’s crime rate is down 72 percent as a result of these deportations, saying, “Their jails are about 50 percent put into the United States; their crime rate is coming down, and our crime rate is going through the roof.”
Read: Elon And Trump X Conversation Reach At 1 Billion; Musk Opens Invite To Kamala Harris
Trump also mentioned a recent incident in New York City, where a woman was allegedly raped by a migrant, to support his argument that the U.S. is being overwhelmed by illegal immigration.
Trump has consistently said that other countries are sending their criminals across the U.S. border, contributing to rising crime rates in America.
Related: New York City: Migrant With Prior Sexual Assault Charge Allegedly Rapes Woman At Knifepoint
CNN’s Harry Enten Warns Harris Fans Not To ‘Open The Champagne Bottle’ Yet As Trump ‘Very Much In This Ball Game’
CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten on Tuesday cautioned Vice President Kamala Harris’ supporters against prematurely celebrating her victory in the upcoming election as former President Donald Trump still has a significant chance of defeating her.
According to a set of The New York Times/Siena College polls released Saturday, Harris is leading Trump in the crucial swing states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. However, Enten on “CNN News Central” noted that Trump has historically been “underestimated” in polling, making her lead insufficient to predict a probable victory for the vice president.
Read: Florida GOP Voters Outweigh Democrats More Than Double With In-Person Early Voting
“I just want to take a step back and sort of point out, we kind of been here before. So August 13th, how far were the polls off in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin? And this is in 2016 and 2020. Trump was [under]estimated both times around and by significant margins,” Enten said. “Take a look here. In 2016, the average poll in those states that I mentioned, those Great Lake battleground states, Trump was underestimated by nine points on average at this point in 2016. How about 2020? It wasn’t a one-off, look at this. He was underestimated by five points on average. And of course, Kamala Harris’s advantage in those New York Times/Siena College polls were four points in each of these key battleground states, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin.”
Americans narrowly trust Harris over Trump to manage the economy. However, according to a recent poll conducted by the Financial Times and the University of Michigan, most of them have a dismal perception of the Biden-Harris administration’s economic policies. Harris leads Trump 42% compared to 41%, but only around 25% of voters believe the current administration has not damaged the economy and close to 75% have a negative perception of the current economic climate.
“The bottom line is this … If you’re a Kamala Harris fan and you want to rip open the champagne bottle, pop that cork, do not do it. Donald Trump is very much in this race,” he continued. “If we have a polling shift, like we’ve seen in prior years from now until the final result, Donald Trump would actually win. I’m not saying that’s going to happen, but I am saying that he is very much in this ball game based upon where he is right now. And compare that to where he was in prior years.”
Harris still has not posted a policy platform to her campaign website as of Aug. 13, over three weeks into her presidential campaign. MSNBC analyst Michael Steele on Monday warned “there are a number of speed traps” Harris’ campaign could face, with many of them being related to policy.
Read: DNC Seeks To Secure Votes From 9M Americans Overseas Ahead Of Election
“By the time she rolls into Chicago, and certainly when she rolls out of Chicago, she will have to have begun to lay the seeds for narratives on health care, child care, the border, foreign policy,” he said. “How much of a distance is she going to create between her administration and the Biden administration relative to Israel, relative to the Palestinian question? So there are going to be a number of things where I think there’s going to be potential speed bumps that could impact momentum, could impact the energy and certainly re-align the numbers.”
Read: Institute For Justice Files Lawsuit Challenging Ban On Cultivated Meat In Florida
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