Donald Trump apparently improvises number of people killed in Chicago during speech

361 people have been killed in Chicago in 2016.
(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Donald Trump has been known to make off-the-cuff remarks and occasionally exaggerate the truth, and he didn't exactly practice restraint during his first official speech as the Republican presidential nominee. "More than 4,000 have been killed in the Chicago area since [President Obama] took office," Trump alleged during his speech, apparently inflating the number written in his draft by 400.

According to Trump's prepared remarks, which were leaked to a Clinton-friendly super PAC earlier Thursday evening, he was actually supposed to claim there had been 3,600 homicides:

In the President’s hometown of Chicago, more than 2,000 have been the victims of shootings this year alone. And more than 3,600 have been killed in the Chicago area since he took office. [Politico]

Since President Obama took office in 2009, approximately 3,568 people have been killed in Chicago.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.