On Sunday morning, Atlanta’s Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms had a few choice words for Donald Trump, on the heels of her city experiencing a weekend of protests.
In an interview with CNN, Bottoms noted how Trump is fueling the fire by referring to protestors as thugs.
“He should just stop talking. This is like Charlottesville all over again,” Bottoms said on State of the Union. “He speaks and he makes it worse. There are times when you should just be quiet and I wish that he would just be quiet. Or if he can’t be silent, if there is somebody of good sense and good conscience in the White House, put him in front of a teleprompter and pray he reads it and at least says the right things, because he is making it worse.”
On Friday, in a series of tweets, Trump, in his typical unpresidential and racist dog-whistle way, stated that when the “when the looting starts, the shooting starts”.
Bottoms’ interview comes on the heels of her Friday night press conference where she urged Atlanta residents to stay home.
“I am a mother to four black children in America, one of whom is 18 years old. And when I saw the murder of George Floyd, I hurt like a mother would hurt,” Bottoms said. “And yesterday when I heard there were rumors about violent protests in Atlanta, I did what a mother would do, I called my son and I said, ‘Where are you?’ I said, ‘I cannot protect you and black boys shouldn’t be out today.'”