Brandon Scott told MSBNC's Joy Reid that those who call him Baltimore's "DEI mayor" lack the "courage to say the N-word" and "should be afraid" because it's his "purpose in life" to topple "their way of thinking, their way of life of being comfortable while everyone else suffers."
In the wake of Tuesday's collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Reid on Wednesday interviewed Scott and focused on a social media post that called Scott the city's "DEI mayor.'
But before that, Reid gave a long monologue during which she blasted white people, Christians, and Republicans and noted the "grab bag of right-wing grievances, barely coded racism, and flat-out lies" following the bridge collapse.
Specifically Reid called out "the most idiotic and racist" conspiracy theory and "boogeyman: diversity, equity, and inclusion — DEI." She noted a post on X from Florida GOP congressional candidate Anthony Sabatini that showed an image of the bridge collapse and the caption, "DEI did this."
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"And a right-wing blue-check account that's been boosted by Elon Musk in the past just blew straight past the dog whistling, tweeting to its 276,000 followers, 'Baltimore's DEI mayor' [and] commenting on the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, 'It's going to get so, so much worse. Prepare accordingly.' The post included a clip of Baltimore's black mayor, Brandon Scott," Reid said.
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Reid continued:
I cannot believe I have to say this: Brandon Scott was elected with 70% of the vote in 2020 in a city that is 61% black, so by right-wing logic, a diversity hire would have been a white man, which of course is what they want. "Only the white Christian men may have the things," and at this point, it's evident what they mean by DEI, right? OK? It means black people. It's the reason the right complained about critical race theory. It's not fashionable to be openly racist any more in America, unlike what they call the good ol' days. So, referring to a black mayor as a DEI mayor gets the point across, right? So fellas, why not just say what you mean? You can't stand black people. We get it. You've been heard.
Soon Reid brought in Scott and asked him to respond to the "tomfoolery and attacks on you for having the nerve to be black and also a mayor."
“I know, and we all know, and you know very well that black men, and young black men in particular, have been the boogeyman for those who are racist and think that only straight, wealthy white men should have a say in anything," Scott began.
He then added:
We’ve been the bogeyman for them since the first day they brought us to this country, and what they mean by DEI in my opinion is duly elected incumbent. We know what they want to say, but they don’t have the courage to say the N-word, and the fact that I don’t believe in their untruthful and wrong ideology — and I am very proud of my heritage and who I am and where I come from — scares them, because me being at my position means that their way of thinking, their way of life of being comfortable while everyone else suffers, is going to be at risk, and they should be afraid because that’s my purpose in life.
Scott also said, “Everybody is working here together. We’re ignoring all the conspiracy theorists, everyone who’s playing bridge engineer at home who’s never even [taken] a class on engineering, and understanding that what this is about is showing the world once and again that Baltimore can’t be broken, that our spirit is strong, and we will rebuild together and honor those who we lost.”
Reid ended the segment with what she intended as a compliment but that arguably was an ethnic stereotype: "Personally, and I think from this show, and I'm sure I speak for you as well, we are grateful in this country to the Latino workers who do the hard work. They are on these construction sites all over this country, doing the work you cannot compel a lot of Americans to do. The back-breaking work that we don't even have enough gratitude to give to them."
She then doubled down on the Scott critics: "And to anybody who has anything negative to say about this mayor or those people, we know who you are. We see you. We see what you mean when you say DEI. We get it."
'They should be afraid': Baltimore leader called 'DEI mayor' stands up to right-wing, racist attacks youtu.be
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Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) is demanding the media stop airing footage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.
Speaking with CNN via phone on Tuesday morning, Scott sensationalized the horrific video footage of the bridge collapse as "something out of an action movie."
"It's something you never think you would see. And being here, right now, looking at it is even more surreal," he said.
Then he made an odd demand of the media.
"I'm going to be the first to ask that CNN and everyone else stop showing the video," Scott said. "No one needs to see a possibility of their family member being severely injured or otherwise over and over and over again because it's just traumatizing our community."
"Fair enough, mayor," CNN anchor Sara Sidner responded.
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The request is downright bizarre.
The media's job is to cover the news, including when a massive cargo ship collides with a major piece of infrastructure to cause its sudden collapse. The video is key to the story because it demonstrates the magnitude of what happened.
Without the video, Americans miss critical context of the shocking incident, like the fact that the ship appeared to lose power twice before colliding with the bridge.
We don't demand the media stop showing pictures or videos of tragic incidents because such multimedia exists to document history. Every year, videos of the 9/11 terrorist attacks are replayed on social media and on TV. That was one of the most traumatizing days in American life, yet no one is demanding the videos should stop being aired, because Americans universally understand their significance.
Rescue efforts, meanwhile, remain ongoing to find at least six people, officials said Tuesday afternoon.
Gov. Wes Moore (D) said earlier in the day that bridge officials are "heroes" because they acted quickly to stop traffic on the bridge once they heard the cargo ship's "mayday" call and realized the ship was going to collide with the bridge.
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Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) suggested Monday that race plays a role in the level of media coverage that mass shootings receive.
Two people were killed and 28 others were injured in a shooting at a block party in Baltimore early Sunday morning. Multiple weapons were recovered at the scene, and police believe there were at least two shooters. Law enforcement officers have not arrested anyone, and they don't yet know what the motive is for the shooting.
The lack of details did not stop Scott, however, from observing what he believes is a racial disparity in attention that shootings receive.
"My community knows this: We know that when you think about this country in the history of mass shootings, most of the time when we talk about this, we're talking about it being a school in a rural community or a suburban white community. And when it happens in Baltimore or Chicago, or D.C., it doesn't get that same attention," Scott asserted in an interview on CNN.
"These black American lives, children's lives matter just as anyone else. We're just asking for all of them to be treated the same," he continued.
It's not exactly clear, however, where the disparity is for this tragic incident in particular.
In fact, every major news outlet — NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the Associated Press — has covered the story.
Perhaps Scott was referring to the fact that the shooting is not receiving wall-to-wall coverage in the media like other mass shootings. There is a reasonable explanation for that — and it's not because the victims are black.
Though police have not yet determined a motive, the fact that it occurred at a block party in which at least 200 people were in attendance, many of them teenagers and young adults, and the fact that there were multiple shooters and multiple firearms recovered suggests the shooting started as a dispute. This is typical of gun violence in major cities like Baltimore and Chicago.
Sensationalized mass killings, on the other hand, receive the attention they do because they often involve a killer who targets people at random in populated areas: schools, malls, grocery stores, and theaters. It's not because the victims are white or because they occur in rural areas, which is not always or even most often the case.
All murder is tragic and senseless. Gun violence is a problem. But the evidence does not suggest that this incident is receiving less attention because it occurred in a black working-class neighborhood and resulted in black victims.
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Democratic Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott left no doubt who he blames for the spike in COVID-19 cases in his city — and the subsequent resumption of mask mandates.
"For anyone that's frustrated about wearing a mask — and you're not vaccinated — then look in the mirror. It's your fault that we're going back to having an indoor mask mandate," Scott said last Friday. "Make sure that folks get vaccinated. If you're not vaccinated, shut up. Don't complain."
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott: “If you're not vaccinated, shut up, don't complain.”@wbaltv11 https://t.co/al6jpTKpy8
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) 1628751200.0
As you might guess, more than a few folks on Twitter didn't take too kindly to Scott's throwdown against the unvaccinated:
WJZ-TV reported that new COVID-19 cases in Baltimore City are up 749% in just one month but deaths remain down.
Baltimore County officials also pressed for more vaccinations.
"Take it from me as a COVID survivor. Getting the vaccine can truly mean the difference between life or death," Baltimore County Health Officer Dr. Gregory Branch told the station, adding, "That Delta variant is a beast, and what we're trying to do is prevent the next one."
Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski noted to WJZ that the "we're focused on getting vaccines in arms. That is our best tool, and it's how we avoid any other steps" and that "with school starting in a few weeks, we must increase our vaccination rates. The urgency is as great as it's ever been."
The faux controversy over Baltimore’s mayor demonstrates that our establishment elites will always look for an opportunity to cry 'racism' to distract and redirect criticism.
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