Thursday on CNN’s “Situation Room,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said President Donald Trump’s criticism of the city’s Black Lives Matter mural outside of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan was “pure racism.”
Trump said the mural would “will further antagonize New York’s Finest,” and called the phrase a “symbol of hate.”
Blitzer said, “You were on Fifth Avenue painting on the street in front of Trump Tower, a Black Lives Matter big, big sign. Tell us why you decided to do that in front of Trump Tower of all places.”
De Blasio said, “That’s an important message. The people of the city believe Black Lives Matter. We wanted to send that message to the whole city and the nation. Here was an opportunity for the President of the United States to show respect for the fact that this is what we value here. What did he do? He literally tweeted that writing Black Lives Matter on Fifth Avenue would ‘denigrate’ the luxury of that avenue. That is pure racism. That is acting like an of the value of Black people is somehow belittling, when, in fact, what we’re trying to do is lift up people who have built the city and built America and haven’t been given their respect.”
He continued, “It can’t just be words, Wolf, it has to be actions. We’re taking resources from our police department and putting it into youth programs. We’re acknowledging institutional racism and coming up with specific plans to tear it down. We need to take this transcend the moment and get the most out of it.”
He added, “The President, rather than having a chance to acknowledge America’s original sin, he literally made it worse by suggesting that honoring black people on Fifth Avenue would somehow make it less valuable or luxurious. I’ve got to tell you. People are outraged by that.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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