Crime & Safety

Rudy Giuliani Doubles Down on Calling Black Lives Matter 'Racist'

The former New York City mayor defended his comments from Sunday on "Fox & Friends" Monday morning.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani refused Monday to back off comments he made Sunday calling the Black Lives Matter movement "inherently racist."

He appeared on "Fox & Friends" on Monday morning and double downed on his comments made on "Face the Nation" Sunday.


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"I saved a lot more black lives than Black Lives Matter," Giuliani told "Fox & Friends" on Monday. "I don't see what Black Lives Matter is doing for blacks other than isolating them."

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Giuliani stirred up anger based on his original comments made Sunday morning as he made an appearance on "Face the Nation."

"When you say 'black lives matter,' that's inherently racist," Giuliani said Sunday. "Black lives matter, white lives matter, Asian lives matter, Hispanic lives matter. That's anti-American and it's racist."

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He did on Monday try to clarify a statistic he cited on Sunday without attribution, saying black children have a "99 percent chance" of killing each other.

"All [Black Lives Matter] cares about is the police shooting of blacks," Giuliani told "Fox & Friends." "It doesn't care about the 90 percent of blacks that have been killed by other blacks. That's just a simple fact."

Giuliani was appearing on the program in the wake of the killing of five police officers in Dallas following a Black Lives Matter protest march on July 7. The march itself was peaceful. Micah Johnson, 25, the suspect who was killed by police, had no direct ties to Black Lives Matter, but expressed a hatred toward officers, police said.

The protests were rekindled last week after two videos emerged showing police officers shooting and killing black civilians. Alton Sterling was shot and killed by Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police on July 5, and Philando Castile was shot inside his car in Minnesota on July 6.

Black Lives Matter held protests in New York City the past three days with the largest occurring July 7. About 42 protesters were arrested after the march, mostly for disorderly conduct. Another 20 protesters were arrested on Friday night, police said.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton made some similar incendiary comments about Black Lives Matter over the weekend. He told WABC radio host Rita Cosby that Black Lives Matter "accomplishes nothing."

Giuliani was mayor of New York from 1994 to 2001. The Republican unsuccessfully ran for the GOP's presidential nomination in 2008.

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr/Creative Commons

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