Trump aides downplay Cummings comments
The president called an influential black lawmaker “racist”while his staff said his tweets are the result of frustration over investigations.
Upping a feud with an influential black lawmaker, President Donald Trump on Sunday called Rep. Elijah Cummings a “racist” over the “rodent-infested mess” in his district while White House aides sought to downplay his comments as frustration over Democrats’ unrelenting investigations.
In a series of tweets, Trump said that his comments Saturday referring to Cummings’ majority-black district as a disgusting mess where “no human being would want to live” were not racist. On the contrary, Trump argued, “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.”
“His radical ‘oversight’ is a joke!” Trump added.
His comments capped a weekend of attacks on Cummings, the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, and marked the latest rhetorical shot against non-white lawmakers that have exacerbated tensions. Two weeks ago, Trump caused an uproar with tweets directed at four Democratic congresswomen of color.
A White House aide said Sunday that Trump, frustrated by the Democrats’ unrelenting investigations and talk of impeachment, swung hard at Cummings and his Baltimore district because he believes such Capitol Hill critics are neglecting serious problems back home in their zeal to undermine his presidency.
Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said in two national television interviews that Trump was not making racist comments. Mulvaney, a former congressman himself, said he understood why some people could perceive Trump’s words as racist.
Mulvaney said Trump’s words were exaggerated for effect — “Does the president speak hyperbolically? Absolutely” — and meant to draw attention to Democratic-backed investigations of the Republican president and his team in Washington.
“Instead of helping people back home, they’re focusing on scandal in Washington D.C., which is the exact opposite of what they said they would do when they ran for election in 2018,” Mulvaney said, pointing at Democrats who now control the House.
He said that Trump’s barbs were a reaction to what the president considered to be inaccurate statements by Cummings about conditions in which children are being held in detention at the U.S.-Mexico border.
At a hearing last week, Cummings accused a top administration official of wrongly calling reports of filthy, overcrowded border facilities “unsubstantiated.”
“When the president hears lies like that, he’s going to fight back,” Mulvaney said.
Trump’s tweets Saturday also said that Cummings’ district is “considered the worst run and most dangerous anywhere in the United States.”
Condemnation followed from Democrats over the weekend, including some of the party’s presidential candidates. Statements from a spokesman for Maryland’s Republican governor and from the lieutenant governor defended Cummings’ district and its people.
Trump again took to Twitter Sunday: “There is nothing racist in stating plainly what most people already know, that Elijah Cummings has done a terrible job for the people of his district, and of Baltimore itself. Dems always play the race card when they are unable to win with facts. Shame!”