A founding member of Black Lives Matter said President Trump was the ’embodiment of white supremacist terrorism’ and ‘terrorist in chief’ over his recent comments on the movement.
Melina Abdullah on Thursday appeared on CNN’s Newsroom to blast the embattled commander-in-chief for calling a proposed Black Lives Matter mural outside of Trump Tower a ‘symbol of hate.’
‘I think it’s the height of hypocrisy for Donald Trump to call anything a symbol of hate,’ said Abdullah, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles chapter and a Pan-African studies professor at California State University.
‘He is the embodiment of hate, and for him to say that affirming the value of black life is somehow hate, again, reminds us of who he is.’
Melina Abdullah (right) on Thursday appeared on CNN to criticize President Trump over his response to Black Lives Matter
In response to claims that Trump is stoking the flames of both political and racial divide with harmful rhetoric, Abdullah pointed to white supremacy.
‘I think we need to remember who he is. That Donald Trump is the embodiment of white supremacist terrorism.’
On Wednesday, Trump lashed out at New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for cutting $1billion from the NYPD’s budget and proposing to paint a Black Lives Matter mural in front of his Fifth Avenue skyscraper.
‘NYC is cutting Police $’s by ONE BILLION DOLLARS, and yet the New York City Mayor is going to paint a big, expensive, yellow Black Lives Matter sign on Fifth Avenue, denigrating this luxury Avenue,’ wrote Trump
‘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.”‘
‘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!’
President Trump (pictured) has been heavily criticized for his response to the Black Lives Matter movement in recent weeks after a series of political missteps
Trump on Wednesday lashed out at New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio over a $1billion budget cut to the city’s police force
He called a Black Lives Matter mural set to painted outside of Trump Tower as a ‘symbol of hate’ in the same Twitter thread
Mayor de Blasio said painting for the mural will begin on Thursday, but postponed the event without an explanation from city officials.
Similar murals were painted in front of the White House and across other cities in support of the movement.
Abdullah continued to lambaste Trump by pointing out that he shared an inflammatory video of two supporters yelling ‘white power’ to his Twitter feed.
Trump also shared a video of a Missouri couple brandishing an AR-15 and a handgun at anti-police brutality protesters this week.
The ‘white power’ video was eventually deleted from Trump’s twitter with White House officials claiming the president did not hear that part.
‘When he he is tweeting videos of people throwing up white power…and really entrenching himself within the white terrorist movement. He’s done that not just only over the last week, but over the last four years,’ said Abdullah.
‘And you see that really manifest in terms of the surge in hate crimes, which are primarily meted out on black people and at the hands of white people.’
Melina Abdullah (pictured) is a founding member of Black Lives Matter in Los Angeles, California, and is a Pan-African studies professor at California State University
A study released by the Pew Research Center on Wednesday showed nearly 60 per cent of Asian Americans and 45 per cent of Black Americans believed that it was ‘more common for people to express racist views toward their group since the coronavirus outbreak.’
Abdullah said the polarization and instances of police brutality against minorities rested squarely on Trump’s shoulders.
‘So it’s really important to understand what Donald Trump has done to this country, and where he’s chosen to align himself,’ she said.
‘So for him, again, to call anything hate is really the height of hypocrisy and we need as a country to be willing to point to him and say that he is actually the terrorist in chief.’
CNN Host Brooke Baldwin responded to Abdullah that ‘those are strong words.’
‘Obviously the White House would dispute that,’ said Abdullah.
‘But you’re allowed your freedom of opinion, and the fact is that the president is highly critical of Black Lives Matter.’
Abdullah (pictured): ‘So for him, again, to call anything hate is really the height of hypocrisy and we need as a country to be willing to point to him and say that he is actually the terrorist in chief’
Pictured: : An aerial view of ‘Black Lives Matter’ mural painting is seen on Fulton Street in Brooklyn, New York City on June 15
Trump has been continuously ridiculed for his response to recent Black Lives Matter protests that sparked after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, two months ago.
He was condemned over his heavy-handed military response to often peaceful protests, appearing to incite further divide between civilians using prejudice rhetoric and for using the widely contested phrase ‘When the looting starts, the shooting starts.’
Meanwhile, he’s repeatedly claimed that he’s done more for the Black community than any president besides Abraham Lincoln, who was credited with freeing African-American slaves after the Civil War.
The president pointed to the bipartisan criminal justice bill he signed.
‘And I got five or six Republicans Senators who had no interest in getting it done,’ Trump reminded Faulkner.
The president also pointed to getting prolonged funding for historically black colleges and universities.