Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott accused his critics of lacking “the courage to say the N-word” after he was labeled the “DEI mayor” following the fatal Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse this week.
After Scott was blamed by some social media users for the collapse, with one of Elon Musk’s favorite accounts calling him “Baltimore’s DEI mayor” – an abbreviation for diversity, equity, and inclusion – MSNBC host Joy Reid asked Scott whether he had any response “to the tomfoolery and attacks on you for having the nerve to be Black and also a mayor.”
Scott replied, “I know, and we know, and you know very well that Black men, and young Black men in particular, have been the bogeyman for those who are racist and think that only straight, wealthy White men should have a say in anything.”
He continued:
We’ve been the bogeyman for them since the first day they brought us to this country, and what they mean by DEI in my opinion is duly elected incumbent. We know what they want to say, but they don’t have the courage to say the N-word, and the fact that I don’t believe in their untruthful and wrong ideology. And I am very proud of my heritage and who I am and where I come from, scares them, because me being at my position means that their way of thinking, their way of life of being comfortable while everyone else suffers is going to be at risk, and they should be afraid because that’s my purpose in life.
Addressing the migrant construction workers who died while working on the bridge, Scott said, “Those folks came to this country to fulfill the American dream. The dream that they say should exist for everyone, but they really mean just for them.”
He concluded, “Everybody is working here together. We’re ignoring all the conspiracy theorists, everyone who’s playing bridge engineer at home who’s never even taken a class on engineering, and understanding that what this is about is showing the world once and again that Baltimore can’t be broken, our spirit is strong, and we will rebuild together and honor those who we lost.”
Watch above via MSNBC.