Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” that critics calling him a “DEI mayor” do not “have the courage to say the N-word.”

Discussing the Baltimore bridge collapse, host Joy Reid said, “The most idiotic and racist theories had to do with their newest bogeyman, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion DEI. A Republican congressional candidate in Florida tweeted that, ‘DEI did this.’ And a right-wing blue check account that’s been boosted by Elon Musk in the past just blew straight past the dog whistling tweeting to its 267,000 followers, ‘Baltimore’s DEI mayor commenting on the collapsed Francis Scott Key bridge, it’s going to get so, so much worse. Prepare accordingly.’ The post included a clip of Baltimore’s black mayor, Brandon Scott.”

When asked to respond, Scott said, “I know and we know and you know very well that black men and young black men in particular have been the bogeyman for those who are racist and think that only straight, wealthy white men should have a say in anything. We’ve been the bogeyman for them since the first day they brought us to this country. And what they mean by DEI in my opinion is dually elected incumbent. We know what they want to say but they don’t have the courage to say the N-word. The fact that I don’t believe in their untruthful and wrong ideology and I’m very proud of my heritage and who I am and where I come from, scares them. Because me being at my position means their way of thinking, their way of life of being comfortable while everyone else suffers is going to be a risk. They should be afraid because that’s my purpose in life.”