A flag is reflected in the window of a Milwaukee Police Department vehicle Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Last Saturday, Wisconsin U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde blamed Milwaukee’s crime rates on “Defund the Police” policies, even though the city increased funding for law enforcement last year.

Hovde shared a clip from an appearance on “The Clay and Buck Show” on X where he recalled a recent visit to Milwaukee and said citizens voiced their concerns about crime. Hovde’s X post listed “the left’s dystopian vision of de-funding the police” as the reason for high crime.

Hovde’s post prompted a response from Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson (D), who pointed out that his 2023 budget increased funding for the city’s law enforcement by $20 million. Although crime statistics show a 16% increase in carjackings from 2022 to 2023, the Milwaukee Police Department’s website also shows decreases in most serious crime categories in that same time span, including homicide, motor vehicle theft and arson rates.

Hovde, the owner and CEO of a $2.8 billion West Coast bank, recently announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D). Although he grew up in Wisconsin, Hovde’s California presence have generated comparisons to Dr. Mehmet Oz’s similarly loose ties to Pennsylvania in his failed 2022 campaign. Hovde and his wife also lived in Washington D.C. for 23 years before moving back to Wisconsin in 2012 for his first U.S. Senate run.