Callie Crossley On How Black Voters Are Responding To Bloomberg's Presidential Bid

Mike Bloomberg, Michael Bloomberg — Democratic presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks during his campaign launch of "Mike for Black America," at the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in Houston.

Arjun Singh is a producer for Boston Public Radio. A California native, Arjun moved to Boston to study international relations at Boston University. Prior to working at WGBH, Arjun worked at a tech company and for a political campaign.

February 14, 2020

Updated August 07, 2023

Ever since a 2015 audio recording of presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg defending the controversial police tactic known as "stop-and-frisk" resurfaced on Tuesday, Bloomberg has been playing defense.

Bloomberg apologized for his endorsement of the tactic, which was utilized by the New York Police Department while he was mayor, in November, but some feel that his apology is not good enough.

On Friday, Callie Crossley, host of Under the Radar with Callie Crossley, said that Bloomberg’s apology, which came just before he entered the 2020 presidential election, was inadequate.

“I really don’t think that he understands the depth of the harm and the trauma [of 'stop-and-frisk'],” Crossley said during an interview with Boston Public Radio. “I think he needs to look in the face of some of those families who were [impacted] ... to really express that he understands the depth of the harm.”

Despite the controversy surrounding "stop-and-frisk," Bloomberg still polls decently with black voters. Crossley said Bloomberg’s modest success with black voters is likely due to black voters already being used to compromising on their candidate of choice, and the desire to remove President Donald Trump from office.

“I heard someone say what I thought was right to the point is, you ask most African-Americans, ‘Are you accustomed to working with and even being led by somebody who’s a bit racist?’ Well, yeah, that’s the answer,” Crossley said. “I’m hearing a lot of African-Americans almost become a one-issue people of: Let’s just get Trump out.”