What he called them · 2024 campaign · № 111
Began claiming that 'the Congo' empties its jails into the United States; fact-checkers found no evidence
“They're emptying out jails all over the world, in Africa, the Congo. The Congo, they empty out their jails.”
- Said
- , Remarks to campaign volunteers, Des Moines, Iowa
- Subject
- Congo
- Target
- Other countries
- Place
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Topic
- Immigration
- Era
- 2024 campaign
What happened
He first made a version of the claim in a January 13, 2024 interview with Lou Dobbs and repeated it at rallies through at least October 12, 2026 (Youngstown, Ohio: 'From the Congo to South America, the prisons were all emptied out'). PolitiFact rated it Pants on Fire, finding no evidence that Congo released prisoners to send them to the U.S. CNN reported that both the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo denied the claim.