'One in 22 Black men': MAGA podcaster links crime to fatherlessness; Benny Johnson says it's killing Americans

Conservative commentator Benny Johnson has claimed that one in 22 Black men in the US will commit murder, linking it to fatherlessness.

Speaking on War Room, the MAGA podcaster said that Black men, who make up about 6% of the US population, were responsible for roughly half of all murders.

Johnson also said that 70% of Black children were born without fathers and that 70% of juveniles in state facilities come from single-parent homes, calling fatherlessness a crisis affecting the community.

FATHERLESSNESS IS KILLING AMERICA

JOHNSON: One in 22 black men will commit murder in their lifetime. Black men are 6% of the population but commit 52% of murders. 70% of black children are born fatherless, 70% of juvenile delinquents come from fatherless homes. Fatherlessness is… pic.twitter.com/EmQm3s01dx

— Grace Chong, MBI (@gc22gc) September 8, 2025

In a follow-up post on X, Johnson wrote that fatherless children were more likely to live in poverty, less likely to graduate from college, and twice as likely to end up in prison. He also pointed to historical welfare policies, claiming the rate of fatherlessness among Black children increased sharply after the 1960s.

"Fatherlessness is killing America. This crisis is real, it’s growing, and we can’t afford to keep ignoring it. I don't care if you find this offensive. It's true. What's offensive is having your innocent child stabbed to death on a bus in Charlotte," Johnson said.

Did you know that 1 in every 22 black men in America will commit murder in their lifetime?

Black men, who make up only 6% of the population, commit 51% of the murders in America.

Black men are nine times more likely to commit a violent crime than the general population in the… pic.twitter.com/Zup1sZtcMX

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 8, 2025

The backlash follows the incident in Charlotte, North Carolina, where 34-year-old homeless man Decarlos Brown Jr stabbed Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska to death on a train on August 22. Footage showed Brown sitting behind Zarutska, getting up to stab her, and then leaving the train.

Brown, described as a career criminal, has at least 14 previous arrests and convictions, including robbery with a dangerous weapon, breaking and entering, and larceny. He has been charged with first-degree murder in Zarutska’s death.