Al Sharpton rips progressives at National Action Network conference: ‘Progressive for who?’
Al Sharpton took a shot at progressives at a conference hosted by his National Action Network on Thursday, saying he’s now in lockstep with Mayor Eric Adams on fighting big city crime.
“Anybody that tells you they’re progressive but don’t care about dealing with violent crimes are not,” Sharpton said at the Sheraton New York hotel in Times Square. “Progressive for who?
“We gotta stop using progressive as a noun and use it as an adjective,” he said. “You’re labeled progressive but your action is regressive. I’m woke? You must think I’m asleep.”
He said he’s on board with Adams on the need for “a national agenda around urban violence, urban crime and accountability.”
Sharpton, who famously failed to endorse Adams’ mayoral run, due to concern over his NYPD background, came under fire last year for taking a get-touch stance on shoplifters — an unexpected turn of events for the career liberal activist.
“He’s seeing what’s happening in Chicago, San Francisco, New York, and it’s clear there’s a public safety crisis across the country,” political consultant Ken Frydman said Thursday. “He wants to be a leading voice on that issue.”
On Thursday, Sharpton introduced a panel of mayors for a discussion on rampant urban crime, with Adams, lame-duck Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Pat♔terson-Howard, and former Pittsburgh Mayor Michael M🅠utter all taking the stage.
The panel was part of a five-day conference hosted by the NAN that is sched𒁏uled to include an address by Vic♉e President Kamala Harris on Friday.
The urban crime discussion comes as some of the nation’s largest cities are struggling to keep a lid on crime, including Lightfoot’s Chicago and the Big Apple.
Lightfoot, who has come under fire for faili✤ng to reel in crime in the Windy City, blamed the media.
“Those of you who are from outside of Chicago are like, ‘Wait, I thought Chicago was the murder capital of the world. I thought Chicago was the most violent place that you can’t walk down the street,'” she said.
“But the truth is – and this is one of the biggest challenges – we have to break through what the media wants to portray black-led cities as and tell the truth about what’s actually happening in our streets.”
All four mayors pushed for a holistic response to crime focused on education and community intervention — and maintained that cops can’t do it alone without mental health and other services.
Additional reporting by Kevin Sheehan
