After weeks of speculation, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio officially announced plans to paint "Black lives matter" on 5th Avenue in front of the Trump Tower, prompting a flurry of incendiary tweets from President Donald Trump.
During an MSNBC interview on Wednesday, de Blasio said city officials made the decision because they wanted to emphasize the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement to the president.
"It's an important message to the whole nation and obviously we want the president to hear it because he's never shown respect for those three words," de Blasio said.
"When he hears 'Black Lives Matter,' he presents a horrible, negative reality of something that doesn't exist and he misses the underlying meaning that we're saying we have to honor the role of African Americans in our history and in our society. … We have to make it come alive today, so we're going to make it really clear to the president. It's going to be right outside his doorstep," he added.
De Blasio said that the city would be painting the mural in a few days.
It's unclear if Trump was watching the mayor's announcement, but immediately after it aired he sent out two tweets criticizing the phrase "Black lives matter" and bashing de Blasio for the decision.
He called the phrase a "symbol of hate."
NYC is cutting Police $’s by ONE BILLION DOLLARS, and yet the @NYCMayor is going to paint a big, expensive, yellow Black Lives Matter sign on Fifth Avenue, denigrating this luxury Avenue. This will further antagonize New York’s Finest, who LOVE New York & vividly remember the….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2020
….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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2020
Other cities have made the decision to paint Black Lives Matter murals on their streets as a message to specific institutions and people.
In many areas, the murals are being painted in front of police departments, and in Washington D.C., the mayor placed the mural right in front of the White House.
De Blasio shot back at the president, telling Trump that the street in front of his tower was built by Black people and they should be honored because of it.
"Black people built 5th Ave and so much of this nation. Your 'luxury' came from THEIR labor, for which they have never been justly compensated. We are honoring them," de Blasio wrote on Twitter. "The fact that you see it as denigrating your street is the definition of racism."
"You also don’t know that NY’s Finest are now a majority people of color. They already know Black Lives Matter. There is no 'symbol of hate' here. Just a commitment to truth. Only in your mind could an affirmation of people’s value be a scary thing," he continued.
Here’s what you don’t understand:
Black people BUILT 5th Ave and so much of this nation.
Your “luxury” came from THEIR labor, for which they have never been justly compensated.
We are honoring them. The fact that you see it as denigrating your street is the definition of racism.— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) July 1, 2020
You also don’t know that NY’s Finest are now a majority people of color. They already know Black Lives Matter.
There is no “symbol of hate” here. Just a commitment to truth.
Only in your mind could an affirmation of people’s value be a scary thing.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) July 1, 2020
Despite Trump's fury at the phrase, polls have shown that the vast majority of Americans support the Black Lives Matter movement.
The New York Times reported that dozens of polls prove that over the past month, support for the movement has skyrocketed among Americans of all races. One poll from online survey research firm Civiqs found that U.S. voters support the movement by a 28-point margin.
On Tuesday, Trump threatened U.S. senators on Twitter, saying he would veto a defense bill if it included a clause that would task the military with renaming bases named after Confederate generals.
I will Veto the Defense Authorization Bill if the Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren (of all people!) Amendment, which will lead to the renaming (plus other bad things!) of Fort Bragg, Fort Robert E. Lee, and many other Military Bases from which we won Two World Wars, is in the Bill!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2020
Trump has faced criticism this week for expressing steadfast support for Confederate monuments and caused a firestorm when he retweeted a video featuring a man yelling "White power," as Blavity previously reported.
I have authorized the Federal Government to arrest anyone who vandalizes or destroys any monument, statue or other such Federal property in the U.S. with up to 10 years in prison, per the Veteran’s Memorial Preservation Act, or such other laws that may be pertinent…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 23, 2020
He spent the weekend tweeting out photos of Black protesters seen climbing Confederate statues, threatening to persecute anyone who damaged the monuments.
