Feb 11, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Steyer: Bloomberg's 2015 defense of stop-and-frisk is "extremely disturbing"

Marisa Fernandez

Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer on Tuesday condemned a 2015 audio recording of fellow billionaire Mike Bloomberg's defense of the controversial stop-and-frisk policing tactic used during his time as New York City mayor, calling the practice "extremely disturbing."

Driving the news: President Trump's campaign amplified the Bloomberg audio earlier on Tuesday. Trump tweeted and then deleted the recording, calling Bloomberg a "TOTAL RACIST."

What Steyer's saying:

“Mike Bloomberg’s remarks in the video are extremely disturbing. The racist stereotypes he uses have no place today, and anyone running for the presidential nomination should disavow them. We have a racist president in Donald Trump, and we must rise above that to unite our country. Mike needs to offer an explanation to voters, especially those in communities of color, who were victimized by 'stop and frisk' and continue to be victimized by racist policing tactics."

Bloomberg apologized for expanding the aggressive policing practices before formally jumping into the 2020 race, saying his focus was "on saving lives" at the time, but he claims he "didn't understand ... the full impact that stops were having on the black and Latino communities."

Go deeper: Michael Bloomberg on the issues, in under 500 words

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Steyer: Bloomberg's 2015 defense of stop-and-frisk is "extremely disturbing"

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