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Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is speaking out against the racists who called him the “DEI mayor” after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed earlier this week. The tragedy happened early Tuesday morning when a cargo ship lost power and crashed into the bridge.

There were six people presumed deceased, but the focus for certain conservative social media users—including Utah Rep. Phil Lyman and Florida congressional candidate Anthony Sabatini—was finding a way to blame diversity, equity and inclusion for the catastrophe.

On Wednesday, Scott sat down with MSNBC’s Joy Reid to discuss the online attacks. “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,” he stated.

Scott also explained that he didn’t receive a special appointment to his position because of his race—he was literally elected to office. In fact, the 39-year-old politician served on the city council before becoming mayor in 2020. Scott won more than 70 percent of the vote.

“We’ve been the bogeyman for [racists] since the first day they brought us to this country, and what they mean by DEI in my opinion is duly elected incumbent,” he said.

“We know what they want to say, but they don’t have the courage to say the N-word, and the fact that I don’t believe in their untruthful and wrong ideology,” Scott continued.

“And I am very proud of my heritage and who I am and where I come from scares them, because me being at my position means that their way of thinking, their way of life of being comfortable while everyone else suffers is going to be at risk, and they should be afraid because that’s my purpose in life.”

Scott should be focusing on those impacted by the bridge collapse—not defending himself from racist trolls.