One of Baltimore’s most famous sons has hit back at
Donald Trump after the US president attacked House rep Elijah Cummings. David Simon, creator of hit crime drama TV series The Wire, responded after Trump called Cummings a “brutal bully” and claimed the Democrat congressman’s Batltimore district was a “rat and rodent infested mess”. Trump’s remarks referenced Cummings’ negative remarks at an
immigration hearing on 18 July. In a heated exchange, Cummings shouted at acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan over the squalid conditions in facilities used to detain migrants, including unaccompanied children, at the southern border.“What does that mean, when a child is sitting in their own faeces, can’t take a shower!’ Cummings asked. ‘Come on man, what’s that about?” Trump’s attack on Cummings also followed the Democrat’s move to subpoena new
White House records on Thursday, and a Saturday morning segment on Fox and
Friends contrasting Cumming’s concern for migrants at the border with conditions in his own district.“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.“As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded. Cumming [sic] 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 continued.He added: “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!”After Trump’s tweets sparked outrage online, a
Twitter campaign with the hashtag WEAREBALTIMORE went viral.Simon, a former journalist for the Baltimore Sun and whose best-known show was set in his hometown, was among those to respond. “If this empty-suit, race-hating fraud had to actually visit West Baltimore for five minutes and meet any of the
American citizens who endure there, he’d wet himself,” he tweeted on Saturday.The writer tweeted a photograph of himself holding a guitar while sitting in front of his Baltimore home.> WEAREBALTIMORE and there’s a block party today on my southside street. This is a city of good Americans who deserve more than a grifting, hollow and self-absorbed failure of a man as their president. @realDonaldTrump is a permanent stain on our land. pic.twitter.com/sQAeE7pC1p> > — David Simon (@AoDespair) > > July 28, 2019“The president, if he stepped out of his limo and found himself suddenly a racial minority, would wet himself on that fundamental alone,” wrote Simon. “The humanity of those he encountered could not matter to him; only their lack of whiteness and his discomfort. So he won’t come.”Cummings responded with his own tweets soon after, writing: “Mr. President, I go home to my district daily. Each morning, I wake up, and I go and fight for my neighbours.”