Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg continues to face scrutiny for his mayoral record, which included his controversial stop-and-frisk policy that The New York Times claims targeted mostly young black and Latino males. Speaking on Tuesday’s episode of Fox & Friends , Fox News contributor Charles Payne spoke about Bloomberg’s controversial policy, which the Making Money host believes indicates his attitude toward black people.
Although Payne believes Bloomberg is an “elitist who looks down on almost everyone,” he suggested that the billionaire looks down on African Americans the most, Newsweek reports.
“But I think he has a particular disdain for black people. I have a 23-year-old son. The notion that if he walks outside, he should be considered a dangerous animal before a human being, that he should be denied his civil liberties protected under the Constitution, that he could be thrusted against the wall simply because he’s black? It kills me.”
Payne also noted what he saw as a different response to the alleged racism of Donald Trump compared to the actions of Bloomberg. He also claimed that reports that Trump did not allow black people into his building are not the same as Bloomberg’s stop-and-frisk policy.
“But it’s not the same as saying, ‘I want to round up 700,000 people in one year ostensibly to fight crime,’” he said.
To all you defending Bloomberg, look Tyquan in the face and tell him to just “get over” what happened to him, that he was just collateral damage in a righteous crusade, that the violation of his rights, body and humanity are things you can live with. HE WAS JUST A CHILD!!!! pic.twitter.com/9yVcRlOwUb
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) February 13, 2020
Payne’s comments come just one day after Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders took aim at Bloomberg’s “ racist policies ” at his massive Monday night rally in Tacoma, Washington. The Democratic frontrunner also slammed Bloomberg’s history of opposing the minimum wage and previous calls for cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Bloomberg has been accused of racism against Muslims as well. Writing for The Intercept , Mehdi Hasan claimed that Bloomberg oversaw “mass warrantless, suspicionless surveillance” of Muslim New Yorkers. According to Hasan, under Bloomberg’s term as mayor, the New York Police Department (NYPD) — working with the CIA — used undercover agents to gather information in Muslim neighborhoods. These agents reportedly spied on the daily life of Muslims in bars, cafes, bookstores, nightclubs, and even mosques. Such monitoring was allegedly carried out even in cases where there was no evidence of wrongdoing.
Despite the criticism he faces, Bloomberg continues to surge in the polls. He recently qualified for Wednesday’s Nevada debate, reaching 19 percent support in a new NPR/PBS News Hour/Marist poll, putting him second only to Sanders, who topped the poll with 31 percent support. Meanwhile, Joe Biden trails the pair in third with 15 percent support.
