The United States has the lowest murder rate and lowest violent crime rate in 126 years.
Posted by Speaker Mike Johnson, Checked
- Sources
- 1 contradict2 support3 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 55%
Speaker Mike Johnson@SpeakerJohnsonOct 14, 2026The sources support a sharp 2025 decline in violent crime and murder (FBI: violent crime down 9.3%, the largest year-to-year drop on record; murder down about 18%), and BBC Verify describes US crime and murder as at their lowest levels in about 125 years.
A detail. The sources confirm the gist; the verdict faults a detail such as a date, number or wording.
What was said
… That means that's money in their pocket they did not have to send to Washington just because we improve, implemented the bill. The average household income went up by almost $5,400 just because of our policies. We also have the safest country in 126 years. The lowest murder rate, lowest violent crime rate in 126 years. We have a secure border. We've not released a single illegal alien into the country in 16 straight months. We have more jobs, more opportunity. We've created a million private sector jobs in the last 19 months in this country. And the success goes on and on. …
Speaker Mike Johnson@SpeakerJohnson · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. FactCheck.org (tier1) says President Trump wrongly cast the 2025 crime decline in misleading terms, so the administration's framing of the decline does not hold up as presented.[1]
Supports. The FBI reports violent crime fell 9.3% in 2025, the largest year-to-year decline since it began estimating crime trends, and Wikipedia's summary of FBI data reports an 18.1% drop in murder and nonnegligent manslaughter.[2][3]
Context. BBC Verify assesses administration claims that crime and murder are at their lowest levels for 125 years, which is close to the claim's 126-year figure but not identical and does not settle the exact count.[4]
Context. The 126-year phrasing appears in a Facebook post by Rep. Ralph Norman and in a quoted House Speaker remark, which are claimant assertions rather than independent records and cannot corroborate the figure.[5][6]
Sources
6 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 primary, 3 not rated, 1 tier 1
- 1Trump's Misleading Crime Drop Claimsfactcheck.org · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts
- 2Violent Crime Falls at Historic Rate, New FBI Data Showfbi.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 3Crime in the United Statesen.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4Is US crime at a historic low?bbc.com · tier 1 · cited for: context
- 5America's violent crime rate has fallen to its lowest level in ...facebook.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 6Republicans return to tough-on-crime message before difficult ...ap.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post