Lightfoot’s message for Trump: ‘It begins with F ...’
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday accused President Donald Trump of trying to “foment violence” and offered a vulgar response — in code — after he threatened Minneapolis rioters protesting the death of George Floyd at the hands of police.
“We see the game he’s playing because it’s so transparent and he’s not very good at it. He wants to show failures on the part of Democratic local leaders to throw red meat to his base. His goal is to polarize, to destabilize local government and inflame racist urges. And we can absolutely not let him prevail,” Lightfoot said.
“I will code what I really want to say to Donald Trump. It’s two words: It begins with F and ends with YOU.”
On Thursday night, President Trump took to Twitter as protesters surrounded a Minneapolis police station and set fire to it.
He characterized the protesters as “THUGS” and tweeted, “Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Lightfoot was asked whether she’s concerned that her vulgar reference to the president — even in code — could cost Chicago at a time when the city desperately needs as much federal help as it can get.
“What I’m concerned about is the president of the United States using his bully pulpit to foment violence. That’s what I’m concerned about . ... Nobody is gonna sit and condone looting and violence. But to blanketly say as the president of the United States that you’re encouraging people to be shot in the street? That’s what I’m concerned about and, frankly, everyone should be concerned about that.”