BALDWIN: President Trump is lashing out at New York City's plans to paint Black Lives Matter on Fifth Avenue right outside of his Trump Tower. He called the phrase denigrating and a symbol of hate. And then he suggested New York Police should stop the sign from being painted. He also blasted New York Mayor Bill de Blasio for slashing $1 billion from the NYPD's budget. The mayor responded by calling the phrase, quote, a symbol of truth and called the president's disparaging remarks the definition of racism. Melina Abdullah is the organizer -- is an organizer, one of the original members of Black Lives Matter and she is a Professor of Pan- African Studies at Cal State Los Angeles. And so, Melina, it is truly a pleasure to have you on. Welcome.</s>MELINA ABDULLAH, ORGANIZER AND ORIGINAL MEMBER, BLACK LIVES MATTER: Thank you so much for having me.</s>BALDWIN: So let's just begin with the words the president used about this BLM street painting, a symbol of hate. Your response to that.</s>ABDULLAH: I think it's the height of hypocrisy for Donald Trump to call anything a symbol of hate. He is the embodiment of hate. And for him to say that affirming the value of black life is somehow hate, again, reminds us of who he is.</s>BALDWIN: Well, he -- as he's tweeting this, he is tripling down. Because if you just look at this week alone, Melina, right, the fact that he shared two videos on Twitter, one of which showing, you know, this guy shouting, white power, the other showing this couple in St. Louis pointing guns at protesters and then this NYPD tweet. It is only Wednesday. He is stoking the racial divide in this country. The election is still four months away. So if and quite frankly when the president does this again, how should the country respond?
Trump Calls Black Lives Matter Street Paintings Symbol Of Hate.