President Donald Trump has received backlash from political opponents who called him “racist” for criticizing Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and his district of Baltimore, which he called a “disgusting, rat and rodent-infested mess.”
However, self-described socialist and Democratic 2020 candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), has also given similar criticism of the district.
“But today what we’re talking about is a community in which half of the people don’t have jobs,” Sanders said. “We’re talking about a community in which there are hundreds of buildings that are uninhabitable.”
Trump resurfaced Sanders’s comments on Twitter on July 29, suggesting that Sanders should be criticized as a racist in the same way Trump has.
“Crazy Bernie Sanders recently equated the City of Baltimore to a THIRD WORLD COUNTRY!” he wrote. “Based on that statement, I assume that Bernie must now be labeled a Racist, just as a Republican would if he used that term and standard! The fact is, Baltimore can be brought back, maybe even to new heights of success and glory, but not with King Elijah and that crew. When the leaders of Baltimore want to see the City rise again, I am in a very beautiful oval shaped office waiting for your call!”
In May 2016, Sanders made another comment about Baltimore: “Residents of Baltimore’s poorest boroughs have lifespans shorter than people living under dictatorship in North Korea. That is a disgrace.” He said.
Trump’s original tweet that set off the latest round of outrage on July 27 highlighted similar issues as he responded to Cummings’s blasting of Homeland Security chief Kevin McAleenan.
“Rep, Elijah Cummings has been a brutal bully, shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border, when actually his Baltimore district is FAR WORSE and more dangerous,” he wrote. “His district is considered the Worst in the USA.”
“As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded,” Trump continued. “Cumming [sic] District is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess. If he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place,”
Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker of California and Sen. Elizabeth Warren condemned Trump’s words.
Sanders appears to have given up on his opinions from previous years, recently focusing on condemning Trump instead.
“Here’s what’s really going on,” Sanders wrote on Twitter. “@RepCummings has been busy revealing the failures of the Trump administration and exposing the greed of Trump’s friends in the pharmaceutical industry, and our racist president doesn’t like it.”
Trump finally added, “Why is so much money sent to the Elijah Cummings district when it is considered the worst run and most dangerous anywhere in the United States. No human being would want to live there. Where is all this money going? How much is stolen? Investigate this corrupt mess immediately!”
