DeSantis rips Trump over BLM leader's endorsement

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday excoriated former President Donald Trump over his handling of the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots after a BLM leader endorsed the ex-commander-in-chief earlier in the week.

Black Lives Matter Rhode Island Co-Founder Mark Fisher on Tuesday announced he would support Trump for president, telling Fox News that "[w]e're not stupid. The brothers are not stupid. We understand when someone's for us and when someone is not, and it's obvious that the Democratic Party is not for us."

"Spoke with Mark Fisher yesterday, a great guy, very honored to have his and BLM’s support," Trump later said on Truth Social. "I have done more for Black people than any other President (Lincoln?), including 10 year funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, where they had none, Opportunity Zones, Criminal Justice Reform, and much more. Thank you to Mark!"

DeSantis, for his part, posted an image of Trump's Truth Social remarks, saying "BLM praising Donald Trump — and Trump celebrating it — makes perfect sense."

"When BLM was burning down cities and assaulting police officers in cities across this country, Trump did nothing but sit in the White House tweeting 'LAW & ORDER!'" he continued. "We did it differently in Florida. I didn’t just tweet. I took action and called up the National Guard."

"We were not going to let our cities burn. As President, I will not sit idly by and watch rioters torch American cities," he vowed.

Trump deployed the National Guard to Washington. D.C., in 2020 amid protests over the murder of George Floyd. He further dispatched federal law enforcement to Portland, Ore., where rioters staged weeks-long demonstrations. 

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.