A FOX News panel sparred over the Black Lives Matter protests on Black Friday that took place in Chicago on Nov. 25.
During last Friday’s broadcast of FOX News‘ “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” fill-in host Trish Regan tried to control a panel that went off the rails.
Panelists Christi Kunzig and GOP strategist Gianno Caldwell said that BLM activists boycotting are ultimately hurting customers and their local economy, not businesses. They added that protesters lack a real policy strategy and organization to create real change.
Caldwell also said that protesters are failing to address the real issues of poverty and gun violence in the city.
“I want everybody to think about this number because this is an important number: 47 percent is the representation of Black people between the ages of 20 and 24 years old. Those folks are largely unemployed,” Caldwell opined.
The strategist wants the activists to “bring all people to the table” implying that Black Lives Matter protesters are divisive for only addressing issues specific to Black people. This “All Lives Matter” sentiment was echoed by Regan and Kunzig.
“Well, you’re getting back to the root issue, which is that all lives matter, not just Black lives matter. We should bring everyone into this equation,” Regan said.
However, former organizing director for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) Stewart Acuff argued that Black people have been unfairly targeted by police and the protests are warranted. He posited that specifically stating Black Lives Matter is not problematic.
“Torture, forced confessions, police beatings,” he starts before Regan interjects. “Oh, come on, let me finish!”
But she did not let him. Regan continued to talk over the liberal panelist as he stood up for the activists’ right to protest.
“Let me finish. Let me finish. This is ridiculous. You’ve cut me off when I’ve just started. This is ridiculous,” Acuff says.
He complains as Regan repeatedly tries to silence him. Then, she states that police officers are the real victims, not protesters. After a verbal tug of war, Acuff finally gets to speak without interruption.
“Black kids are being murdered across America and in Chicago and what is more important to protest than that?” Acuff states. He adds that these protests are in the same activist tradition as the protests from the 1950s and ’60s during the civil rights movement.
Near the end of the clip, Acuff and Caldwell both agree to sit down and discuss policy changes that can reform the justice system as activists have demanded.
