Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned that America’s foreign adversaries are using the death of George Floyd and the resulting unrest regarding racism and police brutality in the United States to promote propaganda that paints the U.S. as an oppressive government.
“I’ve always thought that America’s greatest strength is that we are a country where you can come from humble circumstances and do great things and where, despite our painful history, we’ve worked harder and harder every day, brick by brick, to build a more perfect union for all of us,” Rice said Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation. ” I would say to those, particularly in places like China and Russia and Iran, who may want to use this for propaganda, let’s not be absurd.”
Rice continued: “This is not Tiananmen Square, where you mowed down people who disagreed with the government. This is not the invasion of Crimea, where you took land from your neighbor. This is not the Green Revolution in Iran, where you killed people wantonly because they wouldn’t agree with the theocratic government.”
Since the Memorial Day death of Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a white police officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes, massive demonstrations have taken place in dozens of cities across the U.S.
The protests, which have gone on for two weeks, have been largely peaceful, especially in recent days. But looting, arson, and violence against an increased police presence have also hit major cities such as New York City and Los Angeles.
President Trump has demanded that local governments and police forces “dominate the streets” to maintain public safety and threatened to send active-duty military troops into cities if destruction wasn’t contained.
China in particular has seized on the developments regarding Floyd, policing in America, and the federal government’s response to the protests.
“I think the Chinese Communist propaganda apparatus is very grateful to have some burning cities in the United States right now, having had to suffer and feel deeply humiliated by the specter of Hong Kong being in a state of chaos,” Orville Schell, director of the Asia Society’s Center for U.S.-China Relations, told NPR.
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister tweeted regarding what he called the “abase[ment] of African Americans” and accused the federal government of “brutality against protesters & press.”
On Sunday, the Iranian parliament chanted “death to America” in response to the protests.
Rice said nations such as China, Iran, and Russia have no room to talk about perceived human rights abuses.
“And I would even say to our friends abroad, in places like Europe, where I’m seeing demonstrations in support of what is happening here, thank you for your support, but please, look in the mirror,” she said. “Please ask yourself, in countries in Europe and countries all across the world, what are you doing about racial and ethnic inequality in your own circumstances? America has gotten better because we have been willing to confront our problems. And we’re going to confront our problems again. We’re confronting them now.”
