Trump Attacks Harris' Record on Crime

Vice President Kamala Harris was the California attorney general for six years and San Francisco's district attorney for eight years. Now, former President Donald Trump is making an issue of her record as a prosecutor.

But several of his claims go beyond the facts or distort her positions. Four staffers reviewed Trump's recent remarks and found, among other things: 

Trump wrongly claimed that there was “no crime” if someone stole less than $1,000 worth of goods, and he was wrong again in saying that Harris “started” such a policy. In California, it’s a felony if someone shoplifts more than $950 worth of goods, but it’s a misdemeanor for values below that.

In discussing crimes committed by immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, Trump falsely claimed that Harris, when she was the San Francisco DA, “wouldn’t arrest murderers. She wouldn’t arrest anybody.”

Trump claimed that Harris “supports mandatory gun confiscation” that would leave Americans “defenseless in your house.” Harris hasn’t called for confiscating all guns, and her campaign said she no longer supports the mandatory buyback program for “assault weapons” that she called for during her last presidential campaign.

Trump said Harris “supports abolishing cash bail, which means bloodthirsty criminals that just killed somebody can immediately leave custody, go out and kill somebody else.” But ending money bail does not mean accused murderers would automatically be released from jail before trial.

He distorted the facts in claiming that Harris, as California attorney general, “defined and redefined child sex trafficking, assault with a deadly weapon, and rape of a unconscious person … as nonviolent.” She did not. A 2016 ballot referendum used the term “nonviolent felonies” without defining them, while the state penal code only specifies 23 crimes as a “violent felony.” 

For more on these and other claims, read the full story, "Trump’s False and Misleading Claims about Harris’ Record on Crime."

Reader: A coworker of mine is claiming that illegals coming into the United States are getting twice as much as Social Security and Medicare than citizens. Here is what he wrote:  "illegals get twice as much as people who paid into it their whole life that includes you". This doesn't sound like it's true.

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: It’s not true. This is a myth that been circulating for years. We’ve written about it many times before. 

In 2009, we wrote this, based on Title 8, Section 1611 of the U.S. Code:

We’ll just quickly note that illegal immigrants are broadly disqualified from collecting benefits from government programs, according to U.S. Code, with only limited exceptions. Those exceptions are:

• Emergency medical care (which includes emergency labor and delivery)
• Emergency disaster relief that is provided for the short term and is not a cash payment
• Limited immunizations and testing, and treatment of symptoms of communicable diseases
• Certain community programs, such as soup kitchens or crisis counseling, as specified by the Attorney General
• Limited housing or community development assistance to those already receiving it in 1996. 

These are the only circumstances under which illegal immigrants can lawfully receive government assistance. Notably absent from this list is any type of Social Security benefits.

For more information, see our article “Social Security for Illegal Immigrants?”

More recently, we wrote in April that “lawfully admitted” noncitizens may receive Supplemental Security Income – which is different from retirement benefits and funded by general funds, not payroll taxes. Those living in the U.S. illegally are not eligible for SSI, either. Noncitizens must be a “qualified alien” to be eligible, which means that they must have legal status to be living in the U.S. That would include, for example, refugees, asylees and lawfully admitted permanent residents. 

For more information, see our article “Posts Misrepresent Immigrants’ Eligibility for Social Security Numbers, Benefits.”

Wrapping Up

Here's what else we've got for you this week:

• "Harris Drew a Crowd in Detroit, But Detractors Spread Bogus Claim to the Contrary": Vice President Kamala Harris drew a large crowd at a campaign rally near Detroit, according to photos, videos and press reports. But posts circulating online make the baseless claim — amplified by former President Donald Trump — that an image of the event was fabricated or manipulated by artificial intelligence to inflate the crowd size.
• "Trump, Social Media Posts Mislead on Olympic Woman Boxer": Former President Donald Trump falsely claimed Algerian boxer Imane Khelif is “a person who transitioned” and “was a good male boxer.” Khelif was born a woman and has lived as a woman, participating in women’s boxing events for years. Many social media posts made similar claims.
• "Posts Use Altered Image of Buttigieg in Battle over Who’s ‘Weird’": U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and his husband adopted two infants in 2021. Social media posts use an altered photo to imply Buttigieg is “weird” and that he used a strap-on device developed so men can breastfeed babies. The original photo is from a 2019 article about the device.

• "Trump y publicaciones en redes sociales engañan sobre el género de boxeadora olímpica": El combate de boxeo femenino de la segunda ronda de peso wélter en los Juegos Olímpicos de París entre Italia y Argelia, el 1 de agosto, desató una controversia sobre la elegibilidad de género y dio lugar a una multitud de desinformación sobre la boxeadora ganadora, la argelina Imane Khelif. Contrariamente a las afirmaciones de muchos, incluido el expresidente Donald Trump, Khelif es una mujer y no es transgénero. 
• "Anuncio de TV de Trump repite afirmaciones falsas sobre la ‘zar de la frontera’ y la inmigración ilegal": En un anuncio electoral lanzado el 30 de julio, la campaña del expresidente Donald Trump etiqueta falsamente a la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris como la “zar de la frontera” y sugiere falsamente que 10 millones de personas cruzaron ilegalmente la frontera sur bajo su supervisión y todavía están “aquí”.
• "Ataques al historial militar de Walz": Al presentar su elección para compañero de fórmula para la vicepresidencia, Kamala Harris ha promocionado de manera destacada los 24 años de servicio de Tim Walz en la Guardia Nacional del Ejército. Sin embargo, el candidato republicano a la vicepresidencia, JD Vance, y la campaña de Trump critican el historial militar de Walz, acusando al gobernador de Minnesota de “valor robado”.
• "Verificación del primer mitin de Harris y Walz": La vicepresidenta Kamala Harris, ahora candidata demócrata a la presidencia, presentó a su compañero de fórmula, el gobernador de Minnesota Tim Walz, por primera vez en un mitin en Filadelfia el 6 de agosto. Encontramos algunas afirmaciones y aseveraciones engañosas en sus declaraciones que requerían contexto.
• "Publicaciones engañosas sobre romance de Harris con Willie Brown": La vicepresidenta Kamala Harris tuvo una relación romántica con el influyente político de California Willie Brown en la década de 1990. Pero afirmaciones en las redes sociales que dicen que ella rompió el matrimonio de Brown tergiversan los hechos. Brown se había separado de su esposa años antes de que él y Harris comenzaran su relación.