The Daily Populous Tuesday August 13rd, 2024 evening edition
Authored by newsweek.com and submitted by MrNobodi

During his interview with billionaire donor Elon Musk, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said they could "meet next time in Venezuela" if he loses November's election.

"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," Trump said to Musk. "OK, so we'll go. You and I will go, and we'll have a meeting and dinner in Venezuela."

Trump had alleged that Venezuela has released violent criminals from its jails and sent them to the United States to reduce its own crime rate.

"Their crime rate is coming down and our crime rate is going through the roof. And it's so simple. And you haven't seen anything yet because these people have come into our country and they're just getting acclimated and they don't know about being politically correct, law enforcement or lack of law enforcement and our police. I have to just end with this. We have great police," he said.

An anti-Trump sign is seen at a demonstration in Caracas, Venezuela, on August 10, 2019. During his interview with Elon Musk, Donald Trump said they could "meet next time in Venezuela" if he loses November's... An anti-Trump sign is seen at a demonstration in Caracas, Venezuela, on August 10, 2019. During his interview with Elon Musk, Donald Trump said they could "meet next time in Venezuela" if he loses November's election. More Carolina Cabral/Getty Images

Trump has repeatedly made the unsubstantiated claim about Venezuela releasing its prisoners to the United States.

"I'll tell you what. Venezuela has not gotten rid of all of them. They've gotten rid of about 70 percent of their really bad people," he told Musk.

"Their jails are about 50 percent, put into the United States. Same with other countries, over 30 percent. Some are at 50 percent. They're all different," he said. "But the bottom line is they're all going to be 100 percent. Why wouldn't you put 100 percent of it?"

Roberto Briceño-León, the founder and director of the OVV (the acronym for Venezuelan Observatory of Violence in Spanish), told factcheck.org that there is no evidence that Venezuela is sending criminals to the U.S.

"We have no evidence that the Venezuelan government is emptying the prisons or mental hospitals to send them out of the country, whether to the USA or any other country," Briceño-León said.

Rather, he said, the drop in the crime figures for the country is the result a massive out-migration of nearly 8 million people since 2014 caused by worsening economic and living conditions.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has led an authoritarian government and has been charged with narco-terrorism and corruption by the United States Department of Justice.

In July, Maduro was abruptly declared the winner of the country's election in what has widely been viewed as a rigged vote.

In 2022, it was reported that Vladimir Putin and his top leadership were developing a backup plan to flee to Venezuela if Russia were defeated in Ukraine.

Update 8/13/24 10:27 a.m. ET. The headline of this article has been updated.

Tainuia_Kid on August 13rd, 2024 at 11:29 UTC »

He said that last time. “If I lose to Joe Biden I’ll leave the country and you’ll never see me again.”

picado on August 13rd, 2024 at 11:08 UTC »

Trump's on bail, also awaiting sentencing. I guess he forgot.

BSA_DEMAX51 on August 13rd, 2024 at 11:06 UTC »

He also said we’d never hear from him again if he lost the last one. I’m starting to think this guy might be a bit of a liar.