President Obama has engaged in “propaganda” encouraging people to “hate the police,” former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) charged a day after two city police officers were shot and killed in their patrol car by a man who posted anti-police messages to his social media account.
{mosads}“We’ve had four months of propaganda starting with the president that everybody should hate the police,” Giuliani said during an appearance on Fox News early Sunday. “The protests are being embraced, the protests are being encouraged. The protests, even the ones that don’t lead to violence, a lot of them lead to violence, all of them lead to a conclusion: The police are bad, the police are racist. That is completely wrong.”
Giuliani said he did not agree with statements like those from Pat Lynch, the president of the largest police union in New York City, who said the current mayor, Bill de Blasio (D), had blood on his hands.
“I think it goes too far to blame the mayor for the murder or to ask for the mayor’s resignation,” Giuliani said.
“I feel bad for the mayor,” Giuliani continued. “He must be heartbroken over the loss of two police officers. I can’t believe this is what he wanted. I don’t think he’s a bad man in any way.”
But, Giuliani said, de Blasio is “pursuing the wrong policies” and should not have given protesters demonstrating against the police killings of Eric Garner and Michael Brown as much leeway.
“I don’t think it goes too far to say the mayor did not properly police the protests,” Giuliani said. “He allowed the protesters to take over the streets. He allowed them to hurt police officers, to commit crimes, and he didn’t arrest them. And when you do that, similar to what happened in Crown Heights, you create a great riot. He should have known better. For that he has to take accountability.”
In a statement Saturday, the president said he “unconditionally” condemned the attack on the police officers and called for the nation to “turn to words that heal.”
“Two brave men won’t be going home to their loved ones tonight, and for that, there is no justification,” the president, vacationing in Hawaii, said in a statement. “The officers who serve and protect our communities risk their own safety for ours every single day — and they deserve our respect and gratitude every single day.”
Read more from The Hill:
New York congressman: Stop the cop-bashing
Graham: Dems’ tone ‘incites crazy people’
NY Democrat: Unfair to blame mayor, Holder for NYPD shootings