His comments about a critic have been labelled racist.
US President Donald Trump launched a stinging attack on Elijah Cummings, the Democratic chair of the House oversight committee this weekend.
Trump called Cummings’ district, a majority-black district, a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess”.
The president called Cummings a “brutal bully” and said his congressional district was both “a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess” and “the worst run and most dangerous [district] anywhere in the United States”.
Trump’s remarks come just weeks after he was criticised for another tweet telling “‘progressive’ Democrat congresswomen” to “go back” to the “crime infested” places they came from.
Opponents of Trump, including House speaker Nancy Pelosi, said it was another example of the president deploying racist language for political ends.
.@RepCummings is a champion in the Congress and the country for civil rights and economic justice, a beloved leader in Baltimore, and deeply valued colleague. We all reject racist attacks against him and support his steadfast leadership. #ElijahCummingsIsAPatriot https://t.co/2LG8AuQrHh
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) July 27, 2019
Cummings had replied to the president on Twitter, saying: “Mr President, I go home to my district daily.
“Each morning, I wake up, and I go and fight for my neighbours.
As chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Cummings has instigated a series of investigations into the Trump administration’s policies, including its handling of migrants at detention centres.
An editorial entitled “Better to have a few rats than to be one” was also published by the Baltimore Sun and criticised Trump’s Twitter rant aimed at Cummings and Baltimore as a “rat and rodent infested mess”.
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