President Donald Trump early Saturday lashed out at Elijah Cummings, calling the Democratic lawmaker a “brutal bully” on the border issue and criticizing his Baltimore district as “disgusting” and where “no human being would want to live.”
“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.
His district is considered the Worst in the USA......," Trump tweeted at 7:14 a.m.While it was unclear what prompted the president’s tweets, the House Oversight and Reform Committee led by Cummings voted Thursday to authorize subpoenas for senior White House officials’ communications via private email accounts and messaging applications.
At a hearing last week, the Oversight chairman publicly ripped into Kevin McAleenan, the acting head of Homeland Security, over the conditions of detention facilities for migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Cummings repeatedly shut down McAleenan's attempts to speak while discussing the crowded centers migrants are being held in.
Cummings read from a court document in which a federal judge found that Homeland Security “did a better job of tracking immigrants’ personal property than their children,” before adding, “I’m talking about human beings. I’m not talking about people that come from, as the president said, shitholes. These are human beings. Human beings. Just trying to live a better life.”
Cummings also asked whether there is an “empathy deficit" at DHS.
Trump continued his tweet Saturday: “....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.”The president followed up with a call to investigate the Maryland lawmaker: “Why is so much money sent to the Elijah Cummings district when it is considered the worst run and most dangerous anywhere in the United States. No human being would want to live there. Where is all this money going? How much is stolen? Investigate this corrupt mess immediately!”
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine