President Trump on Saturday slammed Baltimore as a “dangerous & filthy place” during a morning Twitter rant targeting Rep. Elijah Cummings, Maryland Democrat.
In a series of tweets, Mr. Trump described Maryland’s seventh congressional district, which includes Baltimore, as “a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess” and “FAR WORSE and more dangerous” than the Mexican border.
“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,” Mr. Trump tweeted. “No human being would want to live there. Where is all this money going? How much is stolen? Investigate this corrupt mess immediately!”
Mr. Cummings, the chairman of the House Oversight, was born in Baltimore in 1951 and has represented most of the city and surrounding area in Congress since 1996.
Responding on Twitter later Saturday morning, Mr. Cummings urged the president to help remedy financial hardships faced by residents of Baltimore and beyond by endorsing legislation that could lead to lower prescription drug prices.
“It is my constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch. But, it is my moral duty to fight for my constituents,” Mr. Cummings tweeted.
Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. Jack Young subsequently issued a statement of his own Saturday morning calling Mr. Trump’ “a disappointment to the people of Baltimore, our country and to the world.”
“Mr. Trump’s rhetoric is hurtful and dangerous to the people he’s sworn to represent,” said Mr. Young, a Democrat. “As the Mayor of Baltimore, I won’t stand for anyone, not even the alleged Leader of the Free World, attacking our great City or our representative to Congress.”
Mr. Trump mounted the criticism after Mr. Cummings erupted during an oversight hearing last week at the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security over the administration’s treatment of migrant children detained by DHS.
“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. His district is considered the Worst in the USA,” Mr. Trump tweeted.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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