President Trump escalated his racist ambush on House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and his home city of Baltimore on Monday evening by suggesting the congressman of color “investigate himself.”
As head of the House Oversight Committee, Cummings has used his authority to probe various aspects of Trump’s financial dealings and most notably, its review of the Trump administration’s efforts to put a citizenship question on the 2020 census.
Trump has been attacking Cummings for the past several days, deriding Baltimore for being unclean and crime-ridden, sparking pushback from members of his own party condemning the attacks.
Elijah Cummings never even went to the Southern Border and then he screams at the very good people who, despite Congresses failure to fix the Loopholes and Asylum, make it work (crossings are way down and the Wall is being built). Even with zero Dem help, Border getting strong!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2019
Baltimore’s numbers are the worst in the United States on Crime and the Economy. Billions of dollars have been pumped in over the years, but to no avail. The money was stolen or wasted. Ask Elijah Cummings where it went. He should investigate himself with his Oversight Committee!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2019
In comments to the press Tuesday morning Trump said he had no regrets about pouncing on Cummings and Baltimore, alleging that “thousands” of African American residents were calling to thank him for speaking out. He also argued he was “helping” himself with the last flamboyant rhetoric.
“But they’re so happy that I pointed out the corrupt politics of Baltimore. It’s filthy dirty. It’s so horrible. And they are happy as hell,” he told reporters, apparently speaking about African American residents of Baltimore. “So you may have a couple of politicians boycott, but it’s all a fix. It’s all a fix. The fact is, African-American people love the job I’m doing because I’m working for them. I’m not working for the politicians.”
Trump alleges African Americans are calling him by the "thousands" to thank him for unemployment trends, his attacks on Baltimore pic.twitter.com/e7bpnJIFap
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) July 30, 2019