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Trump Deletes Tweet Calling Bloomberg a ‘Total Racist,’ Re-Election Campaign Keeps Its Tweet Up

After audio of former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg discussing his city’s “stop and frisk” policing policy went viral, President Donald Trump joined the chorus of people calling Bloomberg a racist — but only momentarily.

Tuesday morning, Trump tweeted, then deleted, “WOW, BLOOMBERG IS A TOTAL RACIST!” according to numerous reports.

In a statement sent to TheWrap, Bloomberg said, “President Trump’s deleted tweet is the latest example of his endless efforts to divide Americans. 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.”

Also Read: Bloomberg Campaign Has Already Spent $110 Million on Trump Attack Ads (Report)

Trump’s re-election campaign manager, Brad Parscale, also tweeted, but did not delete, “#BloombergIsaRacist.”

In the audio linked in Trump’s now-gone tweet, Bloomberg seemingly defended minority profiling, saying, “95% of your murders, murderers and murder victims, fit one M.O. You can just take the description, Xerox it and pass it out to all the cops: They are male, minorities 16 to 25. That’s true in New York. It’s true in virtually every city.”

Parscale and the “Trump War Room” re-election account both seized on a 2013 interview in which Bloomberg defended the policy, saying “I think we disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little. It’s exactly the reverse of what they’re saying. I don’t know where they went to school but they certainly didn’t take a math course or a logic course.”

Bloomberg also said in his statement, “President Trump inherited a country marching towards greater equality and divided us with racist appeals and hateful rhetoric. The challenge of the moment is clear: we must confront this President and do everything we can to defeat him. The President’s attack on me clearly reflects his fear over the growing strength of my campaign. Make no mistake Mr. President: I am not afraid of you and I will not let you bully me or anyone else in America. Between now and November, I will do everything I can to defeat you whether I am on the ballot or not.”

Read original story Trump Deletes Tweet Calling Bloomberg a ‘Total Racist,’ Re-Election Campaign Keeps Its Tweet Up At TheWrap