Sen. Bernie Sanders said on Sunday he thinks it’s “unbelievable” that President Trump “attacks American cities” when asked about Trump’s tweet calling Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings’ Baltimore district a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.”
However, Sanders sounded a different tune in 2015 when he likened Cummings’ West Baltimore district to a “Third World country.”
“Anyone who took the walk that we took around this neighborhood would not think you’re in a wealthy nation. You would think that you were in a Third World country,” Sanders said during a tour of the city in the aftermath of riots over the April 2015 death of Freddie Gray, an African-American man who died after falling into a coma while in police custody.
The Baltimore Sun reported that Sanders toured the neighborhood where Gray was arrested “hoping to reach out to African-American voters in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.” The neighborhood falls inside Cummings’ district.
Speaking to CNN on Sunday, Sanders slammed Trump over the president’s tweets pointing out the dismal living conditions in Cummings’ district. “It’s unbelievable that we have a President of the United States who attacks American cities, who attacks Americans,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”
Sanders’ 2015 “Third World” comments are not his onely statements criticizing the living conditions in Baltimore.
In 2016, the politician sounded off about Baltimore’s “poorest boroughs,” saying that residents have “lifespans shorter than people living under dictatorship in North Korea.”
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
The spat comes as Trump responded to criticism characterized by the president as Cummings’ “shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border.”
Trump described Cummings’ district as “a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.”
“If he spent more time in Baltimore,” the president tweeted, “maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place.”
The president has since doubled and even tripled down:
If racist Elijah Cummings would focus more of his energy on helping the good people of his district, and Baltimore itself, perhaps progress could be made in fixing the mess that he has helped to create over many years of incompetent leadership. His radical “oversight” is a joke!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2019
There is nothing racist in stating plainly what most people already know, that Elijah Cummings has done a terrible job for the people of his district, and of Baltimore itself. Dems always play the race card when they are unable to win with facts. Shame!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2019
….a look, the facts speak far louder than words! The Democrats always play the Race Card, when in fact they have done so little for our Nation’s great African American people. Now, lowest unemployment in U.S. history, and only getting better. Elijah Cummings has failed badly!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2019
Trump also went after Nancy Pelosi’s district in San Francisco.
Speaking of failing badly, has anyone seen what is happening to Nancy Pelosi’s district in San Francisco. It is not even recognizeable lately. Something must be done before it is too late. The Dems should stop wasting time on the Witch Hunt Hoax and start focusing on our Country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2019
Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.
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