‘Baltimore Sun’ Editorial Board To Donald Trump: ‘Better To Have A Few Rats Than To Be One’
In a scathing op-ed published on Saturday, The Baltimore Sun editorial board ripped into President Donald Trump for attacking Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings.
“Better to have a few rats than to be one,” the newspaper said to the president, referencing his recent remarks.
The paper urged Trump to use the power of his own office to fix the issues he claims the city of Baltimore is facing, instead of attacking Congressman Cummings.
“The White House has far more power to affect change in this city, for good or ill, than any single member of Congress including Mr. Cummings,” the Baltimore Sun wrote, proceeding to attack the president.
The famous paper accused Trump of pandering to his base by launching racist attacks on elected officials, slamming the commander-in-chief’s immigration policies, and reminding him that he had insisted that there are “good people” among neo-Nazis.
“[W]e would tell the most dishonest man to ever occupy the Oval Office, the mocker of war heroes, the gleeful grabber of women’s private parts, the serial bankrupter of businesses, the useful idiot of Vladimir Putin and the guy who insisted there are ‘good people’ among murderous neo-Nazis that he’s still not fooling most Americans into believing he’s even slightly competent in his current post.”
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Trump described Cummings’ district as “rat and rodent infested mess,” responding to remarks the Democrat had made about conditions in detention camps at the southern border. Instead of discussing his detention camps, according to Trump, Cummings should focus on fixing his own district.
House Democrats and White House hopefuls were quick to jump to Cummings’ defense, denouncing Trump’s attack on the congressman as racist. The attack was, it seems, inspired by a Fox News segment about the city of Baltimore: Fox and Friends aired a few hours before the president’s first tweet.
According to reports, Trump has previously used similar language to refer to communities of color.
David Axelrod slams Trump attack on Cummings https://t.co/CnNj1HK4Sq pic.twitter.com/hrjJlzS6gt
— The Hill (@thehill) July 28, 2019
The accusations of racism appear to have prompted the president to double down. Trump posted to his Twitter page a number of videos meant to show that residents of Baltimore are not being taken care of properly. He then doubled down, quote-tweeting conservative journalist Ryan Saveedra’s message accompanied with video footage and calling Cummings out.
.@RepCummings — your district! https://t.co/JV4SF8ykCT
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2019
The president’s attack on Cummings, an African American, came weeks after his attack on four congresswomen of color. Democratic Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts were also targeted by Trump, which led to accusations of racism and resulted in a House of Representatives resolution.
