Trump sidesteps with ‘racist’ claim

Facing growing accusations of racism over his incendiary tweets, US President Donald Trump tried to deflect the criticism by labelling a prominent black congressman as himself racist and accusing Democrats of trying to “play the race card”.

Trump assailed Maryland Representative Elijah Cummings as a racist after the President’s criticisms of the congressman’s majority-black district in the Baltimore area as a “rodentinfested mess” where “no human being would want to live” drew widespread condemnation from Democrats.

Trump insisted there was nothing racist about his criticism and tweeted: “If racist Elijah Cummings would focus more of his energy on helping the good people of his district, and Baltimore itself, perhaps progress could be made in fixing the mess that he has helped to create over many years of incompetent leadership.”

He offered no detail to back up his accusation of racism.

The President’s attacks on Cummings, the powerful chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, marked his latest rhetorical shot against non-white lawmakers. Two weeks ago, Trump directed racist tweets at four Democratic congresswomen of colour. Heading into the 2020 elections, the President is trying to tap into anxieties about demographic and cultural changes in the US in the belief that the divided country he leads will simply choose sides over issues such as race.

Democratic presidential candidate Julia´ n Castro said Trump was engaging in “racial priming. Using this language and taking actions to try and get people to move into their camps by racial and ethnic identity. That’s how he thinks he won in 2016 and that’s how he thinks he’s going to win in 2020”.