Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) called on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to remove the city’s current mayor, Bill de Blasio (D), because of his handling of protests and looting in New York City.
In a pair of tweets, the former mayor and attorney of President Trump said that de Blasio had lost control of the demonstrations in his city and was unfairly criticizing members of the New York Police Department (NYPD).
“Gov. Cuomo should remove Mayor DiBlasio. He is preventing the NYPD from taking the actions that have prevented riots in the past,” Giuliani tweeted.
“The Mayor in NYC has lost control of the mob and of the city,” he continued. “The Mayor is preventing the NYPD to take the actions necessary to stop brutal attacks on police and citizens. He is even falsely accusing NYPD of taking excessive action when he has made them punching bags.”
Giuliani continued the assault in an interview with “Mornings with Maria” on Fox Business, telling Maria Bartiromo that de Blasio should resign.
“The mayor should step down. He’s incompetent” he said.
“This should have been stopped five days ago. I mean, couldn’t they have stopped some of that? We have watched now over and over again people looting, throwing Molotov cocktails, burning cars, and now putting our police in prison, in hospitals, and virtually no major arrests are made,” Giuliani told Fox Business.
The mayor’s office did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill.
Giuliani, the mayor of New York during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has been embroiled in controversy himself for much of the last year because of his role in a campaign to collect dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden. The campaign was a factor in Trump’s impeachment last year.
De Blasio, meanwhile, has faced criticism from activists in recent days over the response of New York City police officers to the protests, including one incident in which a police cruiser is seen apparently ramming a group of demonstrators.
De Blasio has also called for an investigation after another officer was seen shoving a female protester to the ground and was heard in a video using a profane insult in a widely shared video.
“The NYPD has to do better. We cannot see a video like that. There’s no reason for a video like that,” the mayor said Saturday at a press conference. “It corrodes trust. … There will be accountability.”
Protests have continued for days in New York and around the country over the death of Floyd, who died in Minneapolis police custody last week. Video of Floyd’s arrest showed the handcuffed, unarmed black man on the ground pleading for help as an officer knelt on his neck for several minutes. The officer, Derek Chauvin, has since been fired and charged with third-degree murder.