When asked on Staten Island if he saw a connection to Trump and the targeted attacks on Jewish organizations, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the president's action “does not help at all.” | Getty Asked about Manhattan murder, de Blasio says 'dynamic of hatred' is 'clearly' linked to Trump

Mayor Bill de Blasio is calling what police said was a racially-motivated murder of a black Manhattan resident by a white man who traveled to the city from Baltimore an "act of domestic, racist terrorism."

And he believes that "a dynamic of hatred" is growing in America that "is clearly related to the rhetoric of Donald Trump and even other candidates during the presidential election.”


The comments Friday on WNYC’s “Brian Lehrer Show” mark a shift in how the mayor has spoken about the role of Trump's rhetoric in hate crimes in New York City and elsewhere.

Last December, while announcing an uptick in hate crimes in the city, the mayor said, “You can’t have a candidate for president single out groups of Americans, negatively, and not have some ramifications for that.” But when asked then if the rise in hate crimes was “directly” related to Trump’s remarks, de Blasio said it was "more complicated than that."

Earlier this month, de Blasio visited a Jewish community center on Staten Island that was among dozens of Jewish organizations around the country targeted with bomb threats. He was joined at the event by City Councilman Joe Borelli, a top Trump campaign surrogate. Both downplayed the notion of any linkage to Trump.

When asked on Staten Island if he saw a connection to Trump and the targeted attacks on Jewish organizations, de Blasio said the president's action “does not help at all.” The mayor went on to say, “forces of hate have been unleashed that we have not seen anything like, in decades.”

Borelli said then he may disagree with the mayor on politics, but “the mayor is not my enemy, or even my adversary when it comes to standing against hate, here on Staten Island or citywide.”

Friday morning on Twitter, Borelli said the murder in Manhattan this week was, "an attack on all New Yorkers. Period. Racism at its worst and humanity at its lowest. We all demand justice."

Borelli declined to comment when asked about de Blasio linking the violence to Trump's remarks.

When asked about de Blasio's remarks, White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders said in a statement to POLITICO New York, "The President has repeatedly condemned any racially or religiously motivated act of violence and to suggest anything different is dishonest and misleading."

On Thursday, de Blasio refused to answer reporter questions about the killing of Timothy Caughman by a man police said came to the city specifically to attack black people. De Blasio said he gathered reporters Thursday to discuss his mansion tax proposal and declined to answer questions about any other topic.

-- Additional reporting by Laura Nahmias