Black Lives Matter (BLM) has slammed one of its ex-activists after he endorsed Donald Trump for president.
Mark Fisher, who was formerly associated with a Rhode Island BLM group, endorsed Mr Trump on Tuesday in an interview posted online.
Mr Fisher said he had decided to endorse the former president, who in the past has refused to condemn white supremacist groups, because “everybody else sucks.”
He added that he likes Mr Trump and thinks “who we have sitting in the Oval Office is a deep disappointment.”
The Black Lives Matter organisation condemned Mr Fisher’s comments as a “publicity stunt.”
“This is a publicity stunt,” the BLM and BLM Rhode Island said in a statement to CNN. “The right-wing continues to use and amplify fringe Black voices to create an idea of broad support for their corrupt candidates.”
The former president said on social media that he was honoured to receive an endorsement from Mr Fisher, who previously worked as the senior director for the Rhode Island branch of BLM between May 2020 to August 2022.
The former president took to social media to say he was honored to receive the endorsement from Mark Fisher— (REUTERS)
The national BLM campaign, as well as the Rhode Island segment took to X to clarify that they do not support Mr Trump and that Mr Fisher is not affiliated with the organisation.
“To be clear, Donald Trump is a terrorist who committed treason and tried to subvert American democracy. He is no friend to Black people seeking to live in a just society,” BLM posted. “And we in NO WAY support him.”
BLM Rhode Island added: “In response to recent media coverage, we would like to clarify that Mark Fisher is not and has never been affiliated with our organization.”
“The views expressed by Mr Fisher in the referenced Fox News segment do not reflect the values or beliefs of BLM RI PAC.”
Gary Dantzler, the head of the Rhode Island BLM, said Mr Fisher had only ever been an advocate for the group, according to the Providence Journal.
Mr Trump previously blamed BLM for violence across the country during protests in 2020 following the death of George Floyd.
He also refused to condemn the violence of far-right and white supremacist groups including the Proud Boys during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 when he was running for president against Joe Biden.
His comments prompted Mr Biden to call him “racist.”
In September 2020, Mr Trump claimed BLM was “really hurting the black community,” without providing any evidence or context to back up the claim.
