Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort said Thursday the FBI’s statistics on crime should be viewed skeptically since the agency recommended that Hillary Clinton not be charged for her use of private email.
CNN’s Jake Tapper asked in an interview why the campaign emphasizes fears of rising crime levels even though FBI data shows a drop.
Manafort replied: “People don’t feel safe in their neighborhoods. I’m not sure what statistics you’re talking about.”
“The FBI is certainly suspect these days after what they just did with Hillary Clinton,” he added.
Republicans, including Trump, have criticized the recent determination by FBI Director James Comey that Clinton shouldn’t face charges over her use of a private email server while leading the State Department. Some in the GOP have expanded that sentiment to a broader questioning of the bureau.
“The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end,” Trump will say Thursday night during his acceptance speech, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks distributed to reporters. “Beginning on January 20th, 2017, safety will be restored.”
Manafort, in a separate interview on MSNBC, predicted that women would rally to their campaign because they and their husbands cannot afford the lives they live.
Asked by host Chris Matthews how Trump would broaden his base and appeal to women without being seen as attacking them, Manafort argued that Trump would improve the economy.
“Many women in this country feel they can’t afford their lives. Their husbands can’t afford to be paying for the family bills,” Manafort said, just a few hours before Trump delivered the biggest speech of his political career.
“Hillary Clinton is guilty of being part of the establishment that created that problem,” he said.
Asked if he was arguing that 21st century women’s biggest concern was their spouse’s income, Manafort said: “I can speak personally to that. That’s the point.”