President Trump’s reelection campaign dug up old comments from Sen. Bernie Sanders, a candidate for president, criticizing West Baltimore as the president faced backlash for saying Rep. Elijah Cummings’ Baltimore-based congressional district was rat “infested.”
“Bernie Sanders on West Baltimore: ‘You would think that you were in a Third World country,'” a Twitter account run by the Trump 2020 campaign said Saturday.
Bernie Sanders on West Baltimore: “You would think that you were in a Third World country”https://t.co/JHxBxZjuNE
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) July 27, 2019
The crux of the “Trump War Room” tweet were comments Sanders made in 2015 about West Baltimore. “Anyone who took the walk that we took around this neighborhood would not think you’re in a wealthy nation,” Sanders said. “You would think that you were in a Third World country.”
“But today what we’re talking about is a community in which half of the people don’t have jobs,” he added. “We’re talking about a community in which there are hundreds of buildings that are uninhabitable.”
That was not the only time Sanders criticized the conditions in Baltimore. In 2016 he tweeted, “Residents of Baltimore’s poorest boroughs have lifespans shorter than people living under dictatorship in North Korea. That is a disgrace.”
Residents of Baltimore’s poorest boroughs have lifespans shorter than people living under dictatorship in North Korea. That is a disgrace.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) May 5, 2016
Trump on Saturday faced fierce backlash, including accusations of racism, after calling Cummings’ congressional district “a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.”
“Rep, Elijah Cummings has been a brutal bully, shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border, when actually his Baltimore district is FAR WORSE and more dangerous,” Trump tweeted Saturday morning.
“His district is considered the Worst in the USA as proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded. 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,” he said.
….As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded. 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
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2019
Among those Democrats calling Trump’s tweets racist were House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a 2020 candidate for president. Baltimore Mayor Bernard Young said Trump is “a disappointment to the people of Baltimore, our country, and to the world.”
Sanders called Trump a “racist” earlier this month.
