Trump rips ‘Cuomo Brothers,’ says New York ‘was lost to the looters’
Trump threatens military intervention if state, local leaders don't quell violence
Kristin Fisher reports from the White House on the president's Rose Garden remarks and visit to the historic D.C. church burned in the riots.
President Trump on Tuesday slammed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his handling of riots in New York City.
“Yesterday was a bad day for the Cuomo Brothers,” Trump tweeted, referring to the governor and his brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo.
GEORGE FLOYD UNREST: CITIES FACE NEW LOOTING AMID STRONGER NATIONAL GUARD RESPONSE, CURFEWS
“New York was lost to the looters, thugs, Radical Left, and all others forms of Lowlife & Scum,” Trump tweeted. “The Governor refuses to accept my offer of a dominating National Guard.”
He added: “NYC was ripped to pieces.”
The president went on to note that “Likewise, Fredo’s ratings are down 50%!”
The “Fredo” reference is a nod to “The Godfather” films and Trump's nickname for Chris Cuomo.
The president’s tweets come after yet another day—and night—of unrest in cities across the nation in response to Minneapolis man George Floyd’s death last week in police custody.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Cuomo said the violence over the weekend — which left stores ransacked and police vehicles burned — left them no choice but to impose a curfew, even as they insisted they stood with the throngs of peaceful demonstrators, some of whom interacted peacefully with police at earlier demonstrations.
In New York City Monday night, protests turned violent ahead of de Blasio’s 11 p.m. curfew, with crowds smashing windows of storefronts and looting stores.
In Herald Square, a busy intersection just blocks away from Madison Square Garden and the Garment District, hundreds of looters forced their way into a Macy's department store in the presence of police. Several were taken out of the retailer's New York flagship store in handcuffs.
MACY'S HERALD SQUARE LOOTED AS CURFEW FAILS TO STOP PROTESTERS FROM DAMAGING STORE
Other stores, including Michael Kors, Kate Spade, Barnes and Noble, Chanel on both the Upper East Side and SoHo, and liquor stores throughout Manhattan were broken into and looted, covering the sidewalks with glass.
TRUMP VOWS TO MOBILIZE FEDERAL RESOURCES AMID VIOLENT PROTESTS
Elsewhere in the city, dozens of looters used crowbars to bust into a Microsoft store and made off with valuable electronic devices, the New York Post reported.
Meanwhile, in the Bronx, an NYPD officer investigating reports of break-ins was struck by a vehicle early Tuesday in a hit-and-run. The officer is in stable condition.
And in another incident in the Bronx, an NYPD officer was attacked by several men as witnesses recorded the incident.
The NYPD told Fox News Tuesday morning that approximately 700 arrests were made Monday night citywide.
Meanwhile, the president on Monday said he was taking “immediate action” to mobilize “all available federal resources” to stop riots and looting across the country.
The president also threatened to deploy the military if states don’t send in the National Guard to control the violent protests. More than half the states in the U.S. have activated their National Guard, but New York has not yet done so.
"We cannot allow the righteous cries of peaceful protesters to be drowned out by an angry mob," the president said. "The biggest victims of this rioting are peace-loving citizens in our poorest communities."
Fox News’ Morgan Phillips, Louis Casiano and Chris Irvine contributed to this report.