Hillary Clinton’s running mate Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine claimed during the vice presidential debate Tuesday night that the global threat posed by terrorism has “decreased” and that the world is a safer place today than it was eight years ago.

When the debate moderator, Elaine Quijano of CBS News, asked Kaine and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence if they thought “the world today is a safer or more dangerous place than it was eight years ago” and if “the terrorist threat increased or decreased,” Kaine painted a picture of a safer world, despite a string of terror attacks both in the U.S. and abroad in recent weeks.

“America is less safe today than it was the day that Barack Obama became president of the United States. It’s absolutely inarguable,” Pence said.

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“The terrorist threat has decreased in some ways because [Osama] bin Laden is dead,” Kaine claimed. “The terrorist threat has decreased in some ways because the Iranian nuclear weapons program has been stopped. The terrorist threat to United States troops has been decreased in some ways because there’s not 175,000 in a dangerous part of the world — there’s only 15,000.”

The Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security issued a report in February that found 2015 saw the highest number of incidents of Islamic terrorism involving Americans since 9/11. Over the course of that single year, a whopping 81 Islamic extremists were involved in incidents the United States, according to the report.

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The number of incidents of Islamic terrorism have increased every year since 2012, the low point of Obama’s presidency.

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Pence explained why. The Indiana governor hammered what he called the “feckless” leadership of President Obama and Clinton that has led to a more dangerous world.

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“America is less safe today than it was the day that Barack Obama became president of the United States. It’s absolutely inarguable,” Pence said. “We have weakened America’s place in the world. It’s been a combination of factors, but mostly it’s been a lack of leadership.”

[lz_table title=”Major Incidents of Islamic Terrorism in the U.S. Since 2008″ source=”William Robert Johnston “]Year-Location,Deaths,Injuries

2009 Fort Hood TX,13,44

2010 Austin TX,2,13

2010 Arlington VA,1,2

2010 New York NY,0,0

2013 Boston MA,3,264

2013 Los Angeles CA,1,7

2015 Chattanooga TN,6,2

2015 San Bernardino,16,23

2016 Orlando FL,50,53

2016 Seaside Park NJ,0,0

2016 St. Cloud MN,1,9

2016 New York NY,0,29

Total,93,446

[/lz_table]

Although Pence gave Obama credit for bringing al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden to justice, he pointed to how the policies of Obama and Clinton have led to the rise of ISIS and effectively “squandered” the sacrifices U.S. troops made in Iraq because “this administration created a vacuum in which ISIS was able to grow.”

During a later question about GOP nominee Donald Trump’s plans to implement extreme vetting procedures for immigrants coming from parts of the world compromised by terrorism, Pence emphasized the need for securing U.S. borders and putting the needs of the American people first.

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“It really does begin with us reforming our immigration system and putting the interests — particularly the safety and security of the American people — first,” Pence said. “I mean, Donald Trump has called for extreme vetting for people coming into this country so that we don’t bring people into the United States who are hostile to our Bill of Rights freedoms, to the American way of life.”

After Kaine interjected and attempted to paint Trump’s plan as “discriminating” against an entire religion or country, Pence pointed to FBI Director James Comey’s comments given during a House Committee on Homeland Security last October in which he admitted that the federal government cannot feasibly conduct thorough screening measures with the Syrian refugees.

“Look, the director of the FBI … said, ‘We can’t know for certain who these people are coming from Syria.’ The FBI and Homeland Security said we can’t know for certain — you’ve got to err on the side of the safety and security of the American people, Senator,” Pence said.