Former Obama National Security Adviser Susan Rice blamed President Donald Trump for the violent riots which had swept across several states as a result of George Floyd’s death last Monday.

In a media appearance for CNN’s “Situation Room,” Rice claimed that the riots were “partly” because the President had “demonized” peaceful protests citing instances such as former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick deliberate decision to kneel during the singing of the National Anthem. “It’s really fundamentally a problem of our society still bearing the vestiges and the realities every day of racial disparities and prejudice, and that’s what needs to be addressed,” Rice said.

Unlike Trump, the former security adviser claimed that the nation needed strong leadership and that it should be someone who is interested in pushing for racial equality. The ideal leader should be someone that is “empathetic,” “rational,” and “constructive” and should be someone who is invested in understanding the “root causes” of inequality. Rice continued to say that America does not need Trump’s leadership as it only “invoked” the “segregationists” values. She believed that Trump only cared about “talking sicking dogs and shooting peaceful protesters.”

When she was asked about her opinion on the President’s declaration of Antifa as a “terrorist group,” Rice claimed that it should not be the time to “incite” violence against the media, or even the “peaceful protesters.” On the contrary, Rice claimed that instead of running after protesters who have robbed stores, and ransacked buildings, Trump should focus on the white supremacists’ Charlottesville, whom he allegedly referred to as “very fine people.”

However, the President’s claims had long been debunked, and that media establishments have publicly apologized for misconstruing Trump’s statements.

Rice concluded that “We need leadership desperately Wolf, that doesn’t demonize peaceful protest frankly from Colin Kaepernick to those who tried to peacefully protest in recent days.” The former top Obama official added that as the coronavirus pandemic had cost the country more than 100,000 lives, the nation needed a “competent and effective leadership,” especially with the high death rate among African-Americans and Latinos.

While Rice might be preaching about good leadership, the former security adviser had been involved in the so-called Obamagate scandal. Based on her recently declassified emails, Rice had suspiciously sent an email to herself a few hours before she left the White House.

The email contained information about the controversial Oval Office meeting. During the White House briefing, Obama, along with his top admin officials, discussed allegations of Russian interference during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, as well as Flynn’s communication with a Russian ambassador.

Moreover, in the same CNN program, network political commentator Van Jones warned that the protests and violent riots might lead to civil unrest. He warned that the current situation might lead to two possible outcomes: one is the possibility of civil unrest.

Another is a more peaceful one. However, Jones explained that to arrive at the said outcome, the Indianapolis governor has to appoint someone who is trusted within the black community to handle the case, such as Keith Ellison. Jones concluded that ‘Lastly, there needs to be bipartisan legislation, the process should start tomorrow, tomorrow, to get police reform.”