David Axelrod Slams Donald Trump For ‘Destructive’ Attack On Elijah Cummings
CNN political commentator David Axelrod slammed President Donald Trump for attacking Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings, The Hill reports.
“Every, single day, he subjects the country he was elected to lead to a stream of ugly, divisive bombast,” Axelrod said of the president.
“It’s exhausting. It’s destructive. It’s unworthy of a POTUS,” he added, predicting that similar attacks could cost Trump the re-election.
The commentator and Democratic strategist also suggested that the American people are tired of the “division” Trump is causing, stating that the president’s “nastiness” actually prevents the government from doing what it is supposed to.
According to Axelrod, Trump “may believe in multiplication by division but it doesn’t add up for the American people.”
“The rancor and chaos his daily dose of nastiness creates is a barrier to actually getting things done on tangible concerns,” he said.
The political commentator was responding to the latest controversy involving the commander-in-chief. As The Inquisitr reported, in a series of tweets published on Saturday, Trump attacked Cummings, insulting and ridiculing the representative for allegedly not working hard enough to fix the issues his district is facing.
“Cumming District is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess. If he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place,” Trump tweeted, irritated by Cummings’ criticism of conditions in detention camps at the southern border.
A few hours later, Trump posted another Twitter message aimed at Cummings. The president shared a video meant to show that the Democrat’s district is indeed a “mess.”
Democrats denounced Trump’s attack as racist.
“We all reject racist attacks against him and support his steadfast leadership,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded. Other House Democrats defended their colleague as well, as did a number of Democratic White House hopefuls.
Like many times before, the president’s inflammatory tweet was inspired by Fox News. According to reports, Trump got the inspiration from a Fox News segment about the city of Baltimore: The president seems to have watched Republican strategist Kimberly Klacik’s appearance on Fox and Friends, during which she described Cummings’ district as “atrocious.”
UPDATE: @realDonaldTrump's "infested" tweets echoed Fox News segment on filthy conditions in @RepCummings' Baltimore districthttps://t.co/6mwdyuxxCc
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) July 27, 2019
The president has previously used similar pejoratives to describe communities of color, and the Cummings controversy comes following heightened tensions between the White House and four Democratic congresswomen known as “The Squad.”
Trump’s attacks on the Democratic quartet — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley — were also denounced as racist, and officially condemned by the House of Representatives.
After a week of positive momentum for his administration, Trump returned to lobbing insults, kicking up another firestorm over his choice of targetshttps://t.co/GLrUNkoLgd
— POLITICO (@politico) July 27, 2019
As Vox reported, Trump’s attacks on the congresswomen appear to have stopped House Democrats’ infighting, as virtually all congressional Democrats decided to stand by their colleagues.
