Jun. 25, 2024, 4:22 PM EDT

“Few communities have suffered more under the Biden regime than Philadelphia,” Donald Trump claimed in an unhinged diatribe in that city on Saturday. “Under Crooked Joe, the City of Brotherly Love is being ravaged by bloodshed and crime.”

That fictitious, John Singleton-esque portrayal of crime-ridden communities has basically been Trump’s campaign pitch to (and about) major cities, particularly those with large Black populations. As he has done with similar attacks on Atlanta and Detroit, he often portrays such communities as lawless hellscapes in desperate need of his authoritarian ire, harsher policing and, as he has promised in a second White House term, less police accountability.

In this case, he cherry-picked a recent spate of violent crime in Philadelphia in a single weekend and complained about a spike in retail theft to give the impression that the city is nightmarish now, in comparison with his presidency.

But evidence suggests otherwise.

Violent crime has decreased nationwide since Trump’s presidency, and Philadelphia’s drop — particularly, with regard to gun violence — has been among the steepest.

Violent crime has decreased nationwide since Trump’s presidency, and Philadelphia’s drop — particularly, with regard to gun violence — has been among the steepest. In fact, the city’s district attorney is predicting that the city’s decrease in violent crime this year could set a national record.

And while Philadelphia has indeed seen a spike in retail theft in recent years, the numbers in 2021 and 2022 still didn’t reach the pre-pandemic levels of 2018 and 2019, which is to say: They haven’t been as high as they were under Trump’s administration.

So, no — Philadelphia is not “ravaged.” In reality, the city is in better shape than Trump left it as president.

Nonetheless, such attacks serve two goals for Trump and his campaign. They falsely portray liberals — specifically, President Biden — as weak on crime. But perhaps more ominously, they set the stage for Trump, if he’s elected, to follow through on his plan to use the National Guard to impose military-style crackdowns — ostensibly meant to root out crime — in America’s inner cities.