WATCH: Press Secretary Shuts Down Reporter Outraged Over Trump’s BLM ‘Symbol Of Hate’ Comment

During a contentious back-and-forth at a Wednesday press briefing, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany shut down an ABC reporter in what McEnany suggested was his attempt to conflate the sentiment that “black lives matter” with the radical anti-police activist group “Black Lives Matter,” which has called for the national defunding of police officers and the disruption of the nuclear family.

ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl pressed McEnany over President Donald Trump’s recent tweets relating the far-left organization and their anti-cop chants as a “symbol of hate.”

“NYC is cutting Police $’s by ONE BILLION DOLLARS, and yet the [NYC Mayor de Blasio] is going to paint a big, expensive, yellow Black Lives Matter sign on Fifth Avenue, denigrating this luxury Avenue,” Trump posted via Twitter. “This will further antagonize New York’s Finest, who LOVE New York & vividly remember the […] horrible BLM chant, ‘Pigs In A Blanket, Fry ‘Em Like Bacon.'”

“Maybe our GREAT Police, who have been neutralized and scorned by a mayor who hates & disrespects them, won’t let this symbol of hate be affixed to New York’s greatest street,” the president added. “Spend this money fighting crime instead!”

….horrible BLM chant, “Pigs In A Blanket, Fry ‘Em Like Bacon”. Maybe our GREAT Police, who have been neutralized and scorned by a mayor who hates & disrespects them, won’t let this symbol of hate be affixed to New York’s greatest street. Spend this money fighting crime instead!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2020

“Why is the president calling Black Lives Matter a symbol of hate?” Karl asked.

“Well, what the president was noting, is that, that symbol, when you look at some of the things Black Lives Matter has chanted, like ‘pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon,’ that’s not an acceptable thing to paint on our streets,” responded the press secretary.

“So, look, he agrees that all black lives matter, including that of David Dorn and Patrick Underwood, two officers whose lives were tragically taken amid these riots,” she continued. “All black lives do matter, he agrees with that sentiment, but what he doesn’t agree with is an organization that chants ‘pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon’ about our police officers, our valiant heroes who out on the streets protecting us each and every day.”

Protests across the country have rallied around the “phrase” “black lives matter,” Karl contended. “And the president is here calling it a symbol of hate?”

“He’s talking about the organization,” McEnany responded. “I would note to you that the Greater New York BLM president has said, ‘If this country doesn’t give us what we want then we will burn down the system and … I could be speaking literally.'”

Last week, Hawk Newsome, president of Black Lives Matter for Greater New York, told Fox News host Martha MacCallum: “If this country doesn’t give us what we want then we will burn down the system and replace it. All right. And I could be speaking figuratively, I could be speaking literally. It’s a matter of interpretation. Like let’s be very real and observe the history of the 1960s. When black people were rioting we have their highest growth and wealth and property ownership.”

“He’s not talking about the organization in his tweet, he’s talking about the words,” Karl claimed.

“What’s the name of the organization, again?” McEnany responded.

“Black Lives Matter,” the ABC reporter answered.

“There ya go, you just answered my question,” the press secretary said before moving on to another reporter.

WATCH:

.@jonkarl: "Americans of all races have protested in all 50 states around that phrase, #BlackLivesMatter and the president is here calling it a symbol of hate?"@PressSec: "He is talking about the organization…"

Full video here: https://t.co/M0FzJX0qC0 pic.twitter.com/ooZIgOFGxs

— CSPAN (@cspan) July 1, 2020

Related: Black Lives Matter-Led Drive To ‘Defund The Police’ Also Targets Capitalism

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