Rudy Giuliani Pushes Racist Message At RNC As Anti-Racism Protests Continue

Rudy Giuliani appropriated the “Black lives matter” message to proclaim that “all lives matter” during the Republican National Convention, even as protests continue in cities across the country in response to yet another shooting of a Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

In his prepared remarks aired Thursday, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney attempted to smear the Black Lives Matter movement and the racial justice protests, claiming that they were just an attempt to undermine the Trump administration’s policies.

Without proof, Giuliani accused Democrats and progressives of starting the violence amid protests over the May 25 police killing of George Floyd to stop a “bipartisan coalition” in Congress from taking action on police reform because it would make “President Trump appear to be an effective leader.”

“BLM and antifa sprang into action and in a flash hijacked the protests into vicious, brutal riots,” Giuliani said Thursday night, referring to anti-fascist counterprotesters.

“The single biggest signal to encourage wanton lawlessness was surrendering a police headquarters to criminals in Minneapolis,” the city where Floyd was killed, he added. “From then on BLM, antifa and their criminal co-conspirators were in charge.”

The final night of the Republican convention took place five days after police in Kenosha shot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, at least seven times in the back as he walked to his car, where his three young sons were.

The shooting prompted protests and have caused civil unrest in cities that have had ongoing demonstrations since late May to bring attention to the police killings of Floyd, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky and Elijah McClain in Colorado.

On Thursday, Giuliani used the names of two Black children and a teen who have died because of gun violence to discredit the larger Black Lives Matter movement.

“For President Trump, and for us Republicans, all Black lives matter, and the lives of LeGend, Brandon and Davell matter to us,” he said, making note of 4-year-old LeGen Taliferro in Kansas City, and 17-year-old Brandon Hendricks and 1-year-old Davell Gardner Jr. in New York City.

“All lives matter to us,” Giuliani added.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.