Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons went on a rant on Thursday in which he compared the plight of the horses that pull carriages in New York City's Central Park to the plight of people during the Holocaust and slavery, according to the New York Post.
Simmons held a news conference in front of City Hall to discuss his call to ban horse-drawn carriages, which Mayor Bill de Blasio promised during his campaign that he would do.
"It’s a holocaust," Simmons said. "There were people for slavery, remember? Slavery was fine. There were people who put people in ovens. There are all kinds of ethnic cleansing, people for it."
"The horses matter," Simmons said.
Simmons also threatened that if de Blasio does not follow through on his promise to free the horses, it could be the end of his time in City Hall.
"The promises you made matter," Simmons warned de Blasio. "You got in office because we put you there. We put you in, and we can take you out."
Democratic City councilman David Greenfield blasted Simmons' comments.
"To compare the condition of horses who are working in New York City to the death of 6 million innocent human beings in gas chambers and crematoriums is mind-boggling," said Greenfield.
The criticism, however, was not universal. The New York Times celebrated Simmons' "rising activist voice" in an article that celebrated the many issues he has tackled in recent years.