A MAGA congressman was caught making a gross exaggeration of murder rates in Portland and Chicago as he sought to defend his boss defying the courts to send troops there.

North Carolina Rep. Pat Harrigan, a former Green Beret who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, waved away concerns about Donald Trump’s use of federalized National Guard to “protect ICE and federal facilities” in the Democrat-run states.

He told CNN that calling places like Chicago and Portland “war zones” wasn’t wrong because they’re “putting up stats of about 50 murders a weekend.”

But his wild claim is simply untrue.

Portland has reported a 51 percent decrease in homicides in the first half of the year, with some months recording zero killings, according to the mayor’s office. The Oregonian’s tracker con

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