Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has been criticised after he said the term "black lives matter" is ''inherently racist".
During a Sunday appearance on CBS TV's Face the Nation, Mr Giuliani said: "When you say 'black lives matter', that's inherently racist."
He went on to say: "Black lives matter. White lives matter. Asian lives matter. Hispanic lives matter. That's anti-American and it's racist."
Mr Giuliani spoke as protests continued across the US over the killing of black men by white police officers.
He also said black children face a greater threat from other black children than they do from police.
He added: "The real danger to them, 99 out of 100 times ... are other black kids who are going to kill them. That's the way they're going to die."
In a New York Daily News column, civil rights leader the Rev Al Sharpton said Mr Giuliani's comments revealed "an appalling lack of understanding" of the issue.