The national Black Lives Matter (BLM) organization slammed a man previously affiliated with a Rhode Island BLM group after he endorsed former President Trump for president and gained national attention.
“This is a publicity stunt,” the national and Rhode Island groups said in a statement to CNN. “The right-wing continues to use and amplify fringe Black voices to create an idea of broad support for their corrupt candidates.”
Mark Fisher endorsed Trump on Tuesday in an interview posted online, saying he thinks “everybody else sucks.” He added that he likes Trump and thinks “who we have sitting in the Oval Office is a deep disappointment.”
Trump posted online that he was honored to receive the endorsement from Fisher, who worked as the senior director for the Rhode Island chapter from May 2020 to August 2022, according to his LinkedIn.
The former president said he did more for Black people than any other president, with President “Lincoln” in parenthesis with a question mark.
The national chapter of BLM posted Wednesday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to combat the affiliation with Fisher and to clarify that they do not support Trump.
“To be clear, Donald Trump is a terrorist who committed treason and tried to subvert American democracy. He is no friend to Black people seeking to live in a just society,” BLM posted. “And we in NO WAY support him.”
The BLM Rhode Island PAC also posted online to clarify that Fisher was not affiliated with the group and Trump does not have their support.
“In response to recent media coverage, we would like to clarify that Mark Fisher is not and has never been affiliated with our organization,” the PAC posted on X. “The views expressed by Mr. Fisher in the referenced Fox News segment do not reflect the values or beliefs of BLM RI PAC.”
Trump’s comments mark a turn from his previous criticisms of the BLM group, where he blamed the group for violence across the country during protests in 2020 following the death of George Floyd.