Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms appeared on CNN’s State of the Union with Jake Tapper on Sunday and once again took aim at Donald Trump . In particular, Bottoms spoke of the president’s Saturday rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as reported by Breitbart .
“You know, Jake, like so many people across this country, my first response was that I hope that this is a preview for November,” Bottoms said. “That finally, people are recognizing that this man is a danger to our country, a danger to our democracy, and he should not be the president of the United States of America.”
Bottoms called the rally an “embarrassment” and noted that Trump did not speak of “healing” or recognizing the “racial tensions” that have gripped the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
“Instead, he does what he always does. He continues to try and divide us and really inflames the worst in people. And so I just hope that this is a good sign that the country is moving on from him.”
As reported by The Hill , Bottoms also criticized Trump’s claim that he encouraged White House officials to curb coronavirus testing. She called the comment “insane” and pointed to the current death rate for the virus in the U.S., which is over 120,000 as of Sunday afternoon. Tapper noted that a White House official claimed that Trump’s comments were meant a joke, to which Bottoms argued that the current threat of the virus is nothing to make light of.
Atlanta Mayor @KeishaBottoms on President Trump’s Tulsa rally: “That rally was an embarrassment… He did not recognize any of the racial tensions that are happening across our country… He continues to try and divide us and really inflames the worst in people” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/4c2mkmNbAj
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) June 21, 2020
Bottoms is not the only one to express misgivings with Trump’s rally and its purported attempt to divide the country. In an op-ed for the Santa Cruz Sentinel , Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan highlight that Trump’s decision to host the rally in Tulsa led to pushback due to it being home to one of the worst race massacres in American history, when a white mob burned down Black Wall Street and killed at least 300 residents of the region.
The pair also noted that the rally could lead to a spread of coronavirus, which disproportionately affects African Americans. In addition, the initial date of the rally was set for Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery.
Bottoms has been openly critical of Trump in the past. As The Inquisitr reported, the Atlanta mayor previously expressed dismay at Trump’s invocation of Floyd’s name during a White House press conference that touched on various issues, including the importance of equality, law enforcement reform, and America’s purportedly declining unemployment rate.
