Beyoncé VMAs performance: Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani claims he has 'saved more black lives' than singer

The former Mayor branded Beyonce's performance 'a shame'

The former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani has criticised Beyoncé’s politically charged performance at the VMAs and claimed he has “saved more black lives” than the singer.

On Sunday evening, Beyoncé walked the red carpet of the MTV awards ceremony with the mothers of black victims of police shootings. She then performed a show-stopping 15-minute medley of songs from her critically acclaimed album Lemonade. During her song “Pray You Catch Me” she was flanked by dancers in white dresses who fell to the ground one by one to a ‘gunshot’ noise and red lighting.

On Monday, Fox News asked the former Republican Mayor Mr Giuliani about the “war on cops” before asking him his thoughts on the "Crazy in Love" singer's performance which “was supposed to symbolise cops killing black individuals”.

“You’re asking the wrong person because I have five uncles who were police officers and two cousins who were and one who died in the line of duty,” Mr Giuliani said. “I ran the largest and the best police department in the world, the New York City police department, and I saved more black lives than any of those people you saw on stage by reducing crime and particularly homicide by 75 per cent of which maybe 4,000- 5,000 were African American young people who are alive today because of the policies I put into effect […] if you’re going to do that you should also symbolise why those police officers are in those neighbourhoods.”

After claiming he “turned Harlem around”, the former Mayor then branded the influence and power Beyoncé has “a shame”.

This is not the first time Mr Giuliani has criticised the singer’s performances. Following her Super Bowl halftime performance of “Formation”, which paid homage to the black panthers and Malcolm X, Mr Giuliani branded it an “outrageous” attack on police.

Beyoncé’s latest works has been widely hailed as a celebration and empowerment of black culture. She has also increasingly spoken out in support of Black Lives Matter and in July wrote an open letter demanding justice for the deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling.

In April, the singer responded to claims of “anti-police” performances by clarifying there is a difference between being anti-police and being against police brutality.

“Anyone who perceives my message as anti-police is completely mistaken. I have so much admiration and respect for officers and the families of officers who sacrifice themselves to keep us safe,” she told Elle. “But let’s be clear: I am against police brutality and injustice. Those are two separate things.”

A representative for Beyoncé declined to comment.