donald trump attack on elijah cummings

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Trump tweets new attacks on Elijah Cummings and Baltimore, tripling down (updated)

Twitter says that Trump's tweets didn't violate any of its rules.

 

Eilish O'Sullivan

Tech

Posted on Jul 28, 2019   Updated on May 20, 2021, 7:53 am CDT

President Donald Trump started off his Sunday morning by tripling down on his attack against Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and the Baltimore district Cummings represents.

Trump seems to have watched a Fox & Friends segment, which served as the inspiration behind his new series of tweets.

“‘Elijah Cummings has had his chance to address it (crime & conditions in Baltimore) for decades, and he hasn’t gotten it done.’ @PeteHegseth @foxandfriends How can he get it done when he just wants to use his Oversight Committee to hurt innocent people and divide our Country!” Trump wrote early Sunday morning, seeming to quote one of the show’s hosts.

On Saturday morning, Trump kicked off his attack on Cummings after Cummings spoke out against the “government-sponsored child abuse” taking place at detention centers on the border.

“As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded. Cumming 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,” he wrote.

The Baltimore Sun’s editorial board rebuked Trump’s comments in a scathing op-ed titled, “Better to have a few rats than to be one.” On Sunday morning, Trump accused the Democrats of “always” playing the “race card” after many called his attacks on Cummings racist.

Trump not only woke up tweeting about Cummings and Baltimore, but he also seems to have gone to bed tweeting about both.

“So sad that Elijah Cummings has been able to do so little for the people of Baltimore. Statistically, Baltimore ranks last in almost every major category. Cummings has done nothing but milk Baltimore dry, but the public is getting wise to the bad job that he is doing!” Trump wrote on Saturday night.

His comments on Cummings and Baltimore were reminiscent of another one of his attacks on minority members of Congress. On July 14, Trump told four congresswomen of color to “go back” to the “totally broken and crime infested” countries that they came from in a series of tweets that many called a new low–even for Trump.

Update 4:32pm CT, July 29: It was speculated that Trump’s Saturday morning “crime infested” tweets may have violated Twitter’s policy against dehumanizing language. Twitter confirmed with the Daily Dot that the tweets are not a violation of any of its rules.

This story has been updated to include a comment from Twitter. 

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H/T the Hill 

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*First Published: Jul 28, 2019, 8:54 am CDT