2020 presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg defended himself in a new statement after audio of him defending the policy of stop and frisk in 2015 was leaked.
The audio, which was released on Monday, came from a 2015 speaking event Bloomberg joined at the Aspen Institute, during which he acknowledged that the policy disproportionately affected minorities but still defended.
The former mayor, who has apologized for his repeated defense of the policy, reiterated it on Tuesday.
“But this issue and my comments about it do not reflect my commitment to criminal justice reform and racial equity. I believe we need to end mass incarceration, and during my tenure, we reduced incarceration by 40% and juvenile confinement by more than 60%,” he said in the statement.
Bloomberg also addressed President Trump, who retweeted a clip of the leaked audio and called him “A TOTAL RACIST” before deleting it moments later.
“President Trump’s deleted tweet is the latest example of his endless efforts to divide Americans,” he continued. “I inherited the police practice of stop-and-frisk, and as part of our effort to stop gun violence, it was overused. By the time I left office, I cut it back by 95%, but I should’ve done it faster and sooner. I regret that and I have apologized — and I have taken responsibility for taking too long to understand the impact it had on Black and Latino communities.”
He also said Trump of “divided us [the country] with racist appeals and hateful rhetoric” when the United States was “marching towards greater equality.”
In the leaked audio, Bloomberg claimed that 95% of “murders, murderers and murder victims” all fit one description, which is “male, minorities, 16 to 25” years old. He also said the policy saved lives because it forced people to leave weapons at home.
[Opinion: Michael Bloomberg’s comments on racial profiling are a problem for the Democratic Party]
