Senator Cory Booker was questioned by viewers after claiming to have witnessed more deaths from gun violence in his lifetime than “all of our wars combined.”
Booker made the specious claims during an appearance with “Morning Joe” on MSNBC.
“We have more people in America in my short lifetime that have died due to gun violence than in every single one of our wars — from the Civil War and the Revolutionary War to the wars in the Middle East combined,” the New Jersey senator asserted.
He posted a video clip of the comments and a caption that echoed those sentiments, seemingly proud of his statement.
“I’m 53 years old, and I’ve seen more Americans die from domestic gun violence than from all of our wars combined,” he wrote. “Let that sink in.”
I’m 53 years old, and I’ve seen more Americans die from domestic gun violence than from all of our wars combined…let that sink in. pic.twitter.com/KI2svCuO0I
— Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBooker) January 25, 2023
RELATED: Joe Biden Really Just Claimed Half The American Population Has Been Killed By Gun Violence
Cory Booker Mocked for ‘Gun Violence’ Claims
Needless to say, not everybody was buying the statistics Cory Booker was cooking up on gun violence and the history of wars that America has taken part in.
Attorney Jason Roberge fired back, “Why isn’t he wearing a mask to cover up all those lies?”
Why isn’t he wearing a mask to cover up all those lies
— Jason Roberge (@JasonRobergeVA) January 26, 2023
Redstate columnist Buzz Patterson swiftly replied.
“Uhh, this isn’t true,” he wrote. “Your staffers suck.”
Uhh, this isn’t true. Your staffers suck.
— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) January 25, 2023
“It’s never too late to stop lying,” tweeted political commentator Jim Treacher.
It’s never too late to stop lying https://t.co/h4YVHGFFng
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) January 26, 2023
Podcast host Benny Johnson wrote, “Countdown to groveling apology to all veteran groups in 3 … 2 … 1 …”
Countdown to groveling apology to all veteran groups in 3…2…1….. https://t.co/MIF18QAxJ1
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 26, 2023
Unfortunately, there is little indication that Cory Booker would apologize for a misleading claim on gun violence and American wars. In fact, he’s made the claim numerous times in the past.
“In my lifetime, there are more people that have died of gun violence than in every single war in our nation’s history, from the revolution to the current wars going on right now,” he said following a shooting in March of 2021. “Why? Why are we here?”
RELATED: Cory Booker Tells Supporters to ‘Get Up In the Face’ of Republicans
Claim Has Some Holes In It
Here’s the thing Spartacus – We’re not here. Your numbers don’t add up.
Let’s disregard the fact that had somebody like Donald Trump said “I’ve seen more Americans die” the fact-checkers would instantly declare their statement false because, obviously, they didn’t personally witness that many deaths. A different set of rules for different people.
Most gun control zealots like to quote statistics from activist groups that use provably false statistics to bloviate the danger of guns in America.
How? They include suicides in their statistics as “gun violence” as well accidental discharges of a person’s weapon, among other things.
BIDEN: “150 million people” have been killed by gun violence since 2007.
What Joe?
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 26, 2020
The Political Insider reported in 2018 on a group known as Everytown for Gun Safety that was pushing a false claim about the number of school shootings that year.
The group used three instances that involved a pellet gun, and two incidents in which a stray bullet was discovered on a campus leading to lockdown, in their count of 11 “school shootings.”
Brandon Morse, the deputy managing editor at Redstate, took aim at Booker’s claim specifically referencing the suicide aspect of his “gun violence” claim.
“A solid chunk of those deaths are male suicides but you don’t want to talk about mental health among men and how society treats them today,” he fired back. “You’re a fraud.”
A solid chunk of those deaths are male suicides but you don’t want to talk about mental health among men and how society treats them today. You’re a fraud.
— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) January 26, 2023
The Washington Post fact-checked Cory Booker’s previous efforts to claim more Americans have died of “gun violence” than all the wars in the past and was unable to rate the claim as true.
According to Statista, the number of American war dead from just the Civil War, WWII, WWI, Korea, and Vietnam add up to 1,236,640.
According to UC Davis, in 2019, there were 14,861 firearm homicides in the U.S. At that rate, Booker would need to be 83 years old to see the same number of firearm homicides as the above war dead. But again, total homicides include things like gang or drug violence, it’s not all “crimes of passion” or what most people typically think of when they think of murder.
WaPo described Booker’s claim as a “facile comparison” and suggested, “the numbers add up but don’t tell you much.”
The Post also notes that in the case of the CDC, the numbers used to track “gun violence” include self-defense, justifiable homicides, accidents, and suicides.
In 2017 alone, they reported, “60 percent of the gun deaths … were from suicide.”
In short, the numbers are wildly inflated to create an anti-gun narrative that simple-minded lawmakers such as Cory Booker use to exploit emotions and push for restrictions on your constitutional right to bear arms.
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