During a press conference on Monday afternoon, Bill de Blasio -- the liberal mayor of New York City -- finally found someone to blame for all the protests and marches that have taken place over the last several weeks: the news media, whom he accused of “dividing” the people living in the Big Apple.
When a reporter challenged the mayor's perspective of the city, he shot back: “That's how you want to portray the world, but we know a different reality.” After referring to “some people” who do “immoral,” “wrong,” “nasty," “negative” and "threatening" things, de Blasio stated: “But they, my friend, are not the majority. Stop portraying them as the majority.”
The question-and-answer part of the press conference began with a lengthy question from a male reporter, who stated:
The protesters are seen as people who are working to advance justice in society. The chants that we're hearing at the protests -- “NYPD KKK,” “How do you spell racist? KKK.”
Would you be comfortable with your young adults in your household chanting like this at a protest, and we're hearing this at virtually every protest? As well as young students who are literally getting in the cops' faces and yelling at them.
“We talked about this so many times, and we're going to talk about it again,” the mayor replied. “And now the question is: What are you guys gonna do? Are you gonna keep dividing us? I'm not talking about every single one of you, but let's get real.”
De Blasio then stated that “25,000 people marched down one of our streets a few days back, … peacefully calling for what they believe in as American citizens. The NYPD protected them.”
“I told people at the time, I've said it repeatedly, I got calls from all over this country with admiration for the NYPD for the way it protected people's democratic rights. I heard from so many protesters who appreciated the NYPD. I heard from NYPD officers and leaders who said they saw peaceful protests, respectful protests.”
“What you managed to do is pull up the few who do not represent the majority, who are saying unacceptable things who shouldn't be saying those things, and some who actually physically attacked police officers, which I've said is absolutely unacceptable,” the mayor continued.
“We will prosecute those to the fullest [extent of the law],” he noted.
De Blasio added:
The question is: Will you tell the world about this because you all are part of this, too? So yes, there are some bad people who say inappropriate things. ... They have no place in these protests.
They are not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the vast majority of New Yorkers, like the vast majority of Americans, who believe in a peaceful, democratic process. I don't care where they are in the political spectrum.
“The vast majority of our citizens are good and decent people who do not say negative things, racist things, nasty things to police, threatening things to the police,” the mayor stated.
“The few who want conflict attempt that, and unfortunately, so many times you guys enable that,” he noted. “I don't see reports on the many decent, good people. I don't see reports on the everyday cops, who do the exemplary thing and hold the line and show restraint and discipline no matter what invective is hurled at them.”
A reporter then disagreed with the mayor's perspective by claiming that some people in the city go so far as to douse police cars with fake blood.
“I am telling you over again, that's how you want to portray the world, but we know a different reality,” the mayor responded. “There are some people who do that. It's wrong. … But they, my friend, and not the majority. Stop portraying them as the majority.”
John Hawyard of the Breitbart.com news website stated that the mayor “was nowhere to be found when the police needed his support, but now that he senses he’s gone too far and needs a thin blue line to hide behind, de Blasio is suddenly all about respect for the tough job law enforcement is called upon to perform.”
“Is there anyone foolish enough to swallow de Blasio’s act?” Hawyard asked. He “wanted to ride the tide of anti-police sentiment on a rhetorical surfboard, … but now that his surfboard ride is at an end, “it’s time to reinvent himself as a law-and-order guy while ordering the media … to airbrush the worst excesses of the mob out of their reporting.”
Liberals rarely attack people in the news media since everyone from reporters to editors are usually on their side, but judging from de Blasio's experience, even far-left Democrats will do what they must if they have nowhere else to turn.
