Donald Trump has called Black Lives Matter a “symbol of hate.” The President took to Twitter to attack New York City and Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday.
“NYC is cutting Police $’s by ONE BILLION DOLLARS, and yet the NYC Mayor is going to paint a big, expensive, yellow Black Lives Matter sign on Fifth Avenue, denigrating this luxury Avenue,” Trump wrote.
….horrible BLM chant, “Pigs In A Blanket, Fry ‘Em Like Baconâ€. Maybe our GREAT Police, who have been neutralized and scorned by a mayor who hates & disrespects them, won’t let this symbol of hate be affixed to New York’s greatest street. Spend this money fighting crime instead!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2020
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“This will further antagonize New York’s Finest, who LOVE New York & vividly remember the horrible BLM chant, ‘Pigs In A Blanket, Fry ‘Em Like Bacon’. “
Trump has often referred to this chant, though it appears not to have featured in any of the recent protests. Rather, it became a prominent news story more than five years ago.
“Maybe our GREAT Police, who have been neutralized and scorned by a mayor who hates & disrespects them, won’t let this symbol of hate be affixed to New York’s greatest street,” Trump went on.
“Spend this money fighting crime instead!”
The Black Lives Matter movement has suffered sustained attacks from the President, but this seems to be the first time he’s suggested the slogan is a form of hate speech.
By contrast, many of those protesting about the death of George Floyd and other African Americans considerate statues of slaveholders to be symbols of hate. Trump has defended such monuments.
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Darragh Roche is a journalist covering U.S. politics and media
