Brandon Scott: Those who call me Baltimore's 'DEI mayor' lack the 'courage to say the N-word' and 'should be afraid'

Brandon Scott told MSBNC's Joy Reid that those who call him Baltimore's "DEI mayor" lack the "courage to say the N-word" and "should be afraid" because it's his "purpose in life" to topple "their way of thinking, their way of life of being comfortable while everyone else suffers."

What are the details?

In the wake of Tuesday's collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Reid on Wednesday interviewed Scott and focused on a social media post that called Scott the city's "DEI mayor.'

But before that, Reid gave a long monologue during which she blasted white people, Christians, and Republicans and noted the "grab bag of right-wing grievances, barely coded racism, and flat-out lies" following the bridge collapse.

Specifically Reid called out "the most idiotic and racist" conspiracy theory and "boogeyman: diversity, equity, and inclusion — DEI." She noted a post on X from Florida GOP congressional candidate Anthony Sabatini that showed an image of the bridge collapse and the caption, "DEI did this."

"And a right-wing blue-check account that's been boosted by Elon Musk in the past just blew straight past the dog whistling, tweeting to its 276,000 followers, 'Baltimore's DEI mayor' [and] commenting on the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, 'It's going to get so, so much worse. Prepare accordingly.' The post included a clip of Baltimore's black mayor, Brandon Scott," Reid said.

Reid continued:

I cannot believe I have to say this: Brandon Scott was elected with 70% of the vote in 2020 in a city that is 61% black, so by right-wing logic, a diversity hire would have been a white man, which of course is what they want. "Only the white Christian men may have the things," and at this point, it's evident what they mean by DEI, right? OK? It means black people. It's the reason the right complained about critical race theory. It's not fashionable to be openly racist any more in America, unlike what they call the good ol' days. So, referring to a black mayor as a DEI mayor gets the point across, right? So fellas, why not just say what you mean? You can't stand black people. We get it. You've been heard.

Soon Reid brought in Scott and asked him to respond to the "tomfoolery and attacks on you for having the nerve to be black and also a mayor."

What did Scott have to say?

“I know, and we all know, and you know very well that black men, and young black men in particular, have been the boogeyman for those who are racist and think that only straight, wealthy white men should have a say in anything," Scott began.

He then added:

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.

Scott also said, “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, that our spirit is strong, and we will rebuild together and honor those who we lost.”

Reid ended the segment with what she intended as a compliment but that arguably was an ethnic stereotype: "Personally, and I think from this show, and I'm sure I speak for you as well, we are grateful in this country to the Latino workers who do the hard work. They are on these construction sites all over this country, doing the work you cannot compel a lot of Americans to do. The back-breaking work that we don't even have enough gratitude to give to them."

She then doubled down on the Scott critics: "And to anybody who has anything negative to say about this mayor or those people, we know who you are. We see you. We see what you mean when you say DEI. We get it."

'They should be afraid': Baltimore leader called 'DEI mayor' stands up to right-wing, racist attacksyoutu.be

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