Chicago mayor drops ‘coded’ f-bomb blasting Trump’s controversial tweet on George Floyd protests

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) on Friday torched President Trump’s controversial tweet about protests after the death of George Floyd, sharing a “coded” message: “It starts with ‘f’ and ends with ‘you.'”

Lightfoot made the comment at a press briefing Friday, during which she condemned the death of Floyd and the actions by police as seen in a video of his arrest.

“It’s impossible for me as a black woman who has been the target of blatant racism over the course of my life not to take the killing of George Floyd personally. Watching that poor man beg for his life and for the ability to breathe and then watching the life leave him there in the streets I felt angry, I feel sickened and a range of other emotions all at once,” Lightfoot said at a moving press briefing Friday.

“Being black in America shouldn’t be a death sentence,” she said. 

Here’s more of the clip (though not all of it), where Mayor Lightfoot talks about her experience as a Black woman seeing the video of George Floyd being killed.

“Being Black in America should not be a death sentence.” pic.twitter.com/Lx55cuR4hb

— Kelly Bauer (@BauerJournalism) May 29, 2020

She went on to specifically denounce Trump over a tweet sent early Friday morning that condemned demonstrators in Minneapolis, warning that he would send National Guard troops to the city and that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

“Let me say one other thing. Donald Trump’s comment last night was profoundly dangerous. And we must stand in firm solidarity and say this is totally unacceptable no matter who is the speaker,” Lightfoot said.

“His goal is to polarize and destabilize local government and to inflame racists’ urges. And we can absolutely not let him prevail. And I will code what I really want to say to Donald Trump, it’s two words, it begins with ‘f’ and it ends with ‘you,'” she added.

Trump had tweeted calling demonstrators “thugs” who were “dishonoring the memory of George Floyd.”

Many quickly condemned his comments, suggesting Trump was inciting violence against the protesters. Trump sought to clarify the comments later Friday afternoon, but mostly stood by his argument on “looting” and “shooting.”

“Looting leads to shooting, and that’s why a man was shot and killed in Minneapolis on Wednesday night — or look at what just happened in Louisville with 7 people shot. I don’t want this to happen, and that’s what the expression put out last night means,” Trump tweeted Friday afternoon, shortly before a scheduled press conference in the White House Rose Garden.

“It was spoken as a fact, not as a statement. It’s very simple, nobody should have any problem with this other than the haters, and those looking to cause trouble on social media,” the president continued. “Honor the memory of George Floyd!”

His comments follow massive protests that have erupted across the country this week as people express their outrage over Floyd’s death and police brutality. In Minneapolis, protests have led to arrests and have included some protesters storming stores and fires breaking out. 

Video was released earlier this week of a Minneapolis police officer pinning an unarmed Floyd, 46, to the ground and pressing his knee into his neck. Floyd could be heard saying, “I can’t breathe” as the officer continued to press down on his neck. After several minutes, his body went limp and he was pronounced dead 90 minutes later.

The officer who pinned the man to the ground, Derek Chauvin, was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter on Friday.