'Black lives matter' term is racist, says Rudy Giuliani

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.