Chicago City Wire

Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik criticized current Mayor Bill de Blasio's leadership during the current riots and protests in an interview with Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson last week Chicago's Morning Answer.

The hosts also played a recording from Gov. Andrew Cuomo news briefing from the previous day in which he said he was not happy with how things were going in New York City.

"I'm not happy with last night," Cuomo said to media. "The police did not do their job last night. You have 3.800 NYPD, they have protected the city before in these situations. I've seen them do it before. I know they can do it because I've seen them do it, but they didn't do it last night."

Kerik said the bottom line was that rioters were burning down the city and that it was the mayor's responsibility to stop that.

"The governor is right that they have done it in the past — I've done it and police commissioners before me have done it," Kerik said on the radio show. "It has not been done right over the last week. I don't blame the police as much as I blame the mayor. He says he wants a soft touch. Since this started [the mayor] has gone after the police department."

Kerik said during one incident there was video footage showing a police officer drawing his gun on a crowd and de Blasio said he wanted the officer suspended, but Kerik said that should not happen.

"When in reality if you extend that video, you see a guy take a boulder — a brick — and smash this cop in the back of the head and the cop that drew his gun was trying to get them away from that cop," Kerik said. "What he should've done was shot and killed that guy but the cops are not using force — they're scared to use force. They're getting beaten because the mayor and the governor and the attorney general keep talking about investigating the cops when they should be investigating the thugs that are doing this."

Kerik said that although he blames the mayor, he also blames the governor.

"You've been watching this for days and you've said consistently said it's not going well, so why aren't you doing your job?" Kerik said. "If the mayor isn't doing his job, you've got to bring someone in to get the job done. They're burning down the city and you're allowing it."

Kerik said rioters are terrorizing the city and the cops are being deployed to do what the mayor wants.

"The mayor is a complete failure," Kerik said.

Jacobson noted there were at least 200 police officers who injured in the last five days.

Kerik said he couldn't even watch the videos of what has happened to some of the police.

"This would never happen under [former mayor] Rudy Guliani," Kerik said. "They are trying to burn down the city."

Kerik was pardoned by President Trump after being sentenced to a four-year sentence for tax fraud and lying to White House officials.

Kerik said the number of police in the city should be able to take care of the New York but de Blasio isn't allowing them to do it.

"The governor should step in," Kerik said. "The president has offered help and they've said no. I don't know what you're looking at but I'm looking at the city and it's been demolished. They need help, but for political reasons, they won't ask for it."