New York Giants

Victor Cruz: Racist vandalism of teammate's home stems from Donald Trump's rhetoric

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Victor Cruz was outspoken about the recent vandalism of teammate Nikita Whitlock’s home on Thursday, and drew a through line to Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric.

Cruz addressed reporters Thursday, in wake of racist messages being written on the walls of Whitlock’s New Jersey apartment during a break-in on Tuesday. He connected the hateful activity to the president-elect’s decision-making. The messages included “Go back to Africa,” “KKK,” and “Trump,” as part of a wave of reported hate crimes in the area. 

“I think it's definitely a direct reflection of how this country's being run and how this country's reacting maybe to some of the decisions, some of the ways that this country's being run and things that are being said by people at the helm of this country and at the helm of our day-to-day lives — our day-to-day from social media all the way up to the White House,” Cruz said, according to the New York Daily News. “These are things that are being spoken of and talked about on a daily basis, the good and the bad, more so the bad at this point right now because that's all we have to work with. It's just an unfortunate situation we're going through right now.”

“I think there's a specific mindset that comes with supporting a guy like Donald Trump and supporting what he stands for, and there's a certain type of person that comes with that, and I'm not sure that person is always a positive-minded person,” he added. “You know what I mean? You just have to be careful. As a minority you have to be careful. As a person of influence you have to be careful, and you've just got to make sure your family's safe and give them the knowledge to stay safe in this world.”

Cruz continued on discussing the pertinent social issues and said he was comfortable with the possibility of upsetting people, and that he doesn’t equate every Trump supporter with a racist opinion.

“Obviously there are people out there that just want change, that just want something different and just want someone with a business acumen at the helm,” Cruz said. “And I understand that. And I'm all for change in that regard. But when it comes to using his name to vandalize things and using him names as a positive reinforcement as to why you're doing this, that's where I have the problem.”

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