Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Sunday morning compared President Trump’s tweets reacting to protests across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death to his response during the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville.
When CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Bottoms about Trump’s recent tweets threatening to use “the unlimited power of our military” and “the most vicious dogs and most ominous weapons” against protesters, Bottoms replied that the President “should just stop talking.”
“This is like Charlottesville all over again. He speaks and he makes it worse,” Bottoms said, referring to Trump’s reaction to the white supremacist rally held there in 2017 by saying there were “very fine people on both sides.”
Bottoms then added that she wishes Trump “would just be quiet.”
“Or, if he can’t be silent, if there’s somebody of good sense and good conscience in the White House, put him in front of a teleprompter and pray that he reads it, and at least says the right things, because he is making it worse,” Bottoms said.
Watch Bottoms’ remarks below:
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms says Trump's reaction to protests is "like Charlottesville all over again" pic.twitter.com/85SojCKStH
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) May 31, 2020
I like her.
I would never wish harm on any human being.
Ever.
Also, a massive stroke that left him unable to speak might be the best possible thing for humanity.
If this nation had a leader, that person would be out in front, visible to our citizens, speaking plainly and empatheticly in order to soothe, to calm, to reassure, to at least try to de-escalate tensions.
Instead, we get Bull Conner-esque threats of violence from an invisible Provoker-In-Chief, issued from behind the cowardly shield of a Twitter account.
Ms. Bottoms knows whereof she speaks.
She has a way with words that speaks well for her future.