New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's effort to pit the public against the police "throws gasoline on the fire" and does nothing to ease tensions as people take to the streets to protest, says Rep. Pete King.
"I never thought we'd be back where we were in 1970s where police are targets and elected officials in the media criticizing the cops so openly, demonstrators calling for the death of cops," the New York Republican said Monday on Fox News Channel's
"The Kelly File."
"A mayor sides with protesters, goes out of his way I believe to disparage police officers. It's a terrible situation."
The shooting deaths of two NYPD officers on Saturday "is almost a logical result of these four, five months of rhetoric," King said.
King said he doesn't believe de Blasio wants police officers murdered, but added that his rhetoric comes from a "progressive, left-wing ideology that almost compels him to be against the police."
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