Reverend Al Sharpton said Monday on MSNBC that black mayors have had to face “insurmountable odds” because of the color of their skin.
Lightfoot, whose last day in office is May 15, joined “Morning Joe” where she alleged that her skin color has been an issue.
“I have to note that you spent maybe two days at our National Action Network Convention and every time you walked in the room you got a standing ovation. Is it that you get a sense that people understand that you and other mayors of color, black mayors, came up against some insurmountable odds, as you said, the pandemic, crime, we’re dealing in New York right now with a subway vigilante and that these forces that you have to deal with, really tried to target in many ways, cities that had black mayors, like Texas sending migrants to your city and to New York City,” Sharpton said.
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“Look, there’s no question, Reverend Al, that there are some people in Chicago and across the country that don’t want mayors like me to succeed. There’s a reason why in 2020 part of Trump’s national strategy was to go after cities and mayors like me by name, by city, not just me, but also Keisha Lance Bottoms in Atlanta, Muriel Bowser in Washington, D.C.,” Lightfoot said. “And when the person with the biggest megaphone and biggest stage attacks you in a way that Trump attacked us, it unleashes a set of forces that are hard to control.”
This isn’t the first time a Democratic leader has alleged the problems they face are due to the color of their skin. (RELATED: Tucker Carlson Rips Lori Lightfoot For Blaming Election Loss On Racism, Sexism)
Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams recently accused Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott of busing migrants from the southern border to the big apple to “hurt black run cities.”
Adams slammed the busing of migrants as political and claimed that “is is impossible to ignore the fact that Abbott is now targeting five cities run by black mayors.”
Lightfoot herself argued in 2021 that most of the criticism about her temperament is simply due to her race.
“Women and people of color are always held to a different standard,” Lightfoot said. “I understand that, I’ve know that my whole life.”