'Better to have a few rats than to be one': The Baltimore Sun's editorial board rails against Trump in a scathing column
- The Baltimore Sun's editorial board compared President Donald Trump to vermin in a scathing piece published Saturday.
- The column came after Trump fired off a slew of tweets attacking Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings and the Maryland district he represents.
- The editorial went on to describe Trump as "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 bankrupted of businesses, the useful idiot of Vladimir Putin and the guy who insisted there are 'good people' among murderous neo-Nazis."
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
The Baltimore Sun's editorial board on Saturday lashed out against President Donald Trump's recent characterizations of the city as a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess."
The newspaper published an editorial with the headline, "Better to have a few rats than to be one," comparing the president to vermin and railing against his recent attacks on Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings and the Maryland district he represents.
Trump spent much of Saturday tweeting out missives about Cummings, calling him a "brutal bully" and saying his district was "FAR WORSE and more dangerous" than the conditions for migrants at the US-Mexico border.
He argued that Cummings spent less effort on his own district than on criticizing border facilities, where children have recently died, been placed in cages, separated from family members, and deprived of basic hygiene.
"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," Trump tweeted. "If he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place."
'The most dishonest man ever to occupy the Oval Office'
The Baltimore Sun's editorial pointed out that Cummings' district encompasses a broad swath of the city, including landmarks like the world-renowned Johns Hopkins Hospital and the US Social Security Administration.
The editorial also characterized Trump's remarks as bigoted, expressing surprise that Trump hadn't included "a few classic phrases like 'you people' or 'welfare queens' or 'crime-ridden ghettos' or a suggestion that the congressman 'go back' to where he came from.'"
The editorial went on to describe Trump as "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 bankrupted of businesses, the useful idiot of Vladimir Putin and the guy who insisted there are 'good people' among murderous neo-Nazis."
The Baltimore Sun's editorial was just one of several high-profile responses to Trump's remarks on Saturday.
CNN anchor Victor Blackwell, who is from Baltimore, delivered passionate remarks on-air defending the city he grew up in and its residents.
"The president says about Congressman Cummings's district that no human would want to live there. You know who did, Mr. President? I did. From the day I was brought home from the hospital to the day I left for college," Blackwell said. "There are challenges, no doubt, but people are proud of their community."
Baltimore Mayor Bernard "Jack" Young called Trump a "disappointment" to Baltimore, the US, and the world.
"It's completely unacceptable for the political leader of our country to denigrate a vibrant American City like Baltimore, and to viciously attack U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings a patriot and a hero," Young said in a statement.
- Read more:
- Trump's racist attacks on 'the Squad' come straight out of an authoritarian's playbook and threaten American democracy, experts say
- After Trump's second racially charged outburst, Barack Obama shared an op-ed condemning 'go back' rhetoric
- 'We are patriots': More than 140 African American who worked in the Obama administration write an op-ed calling for end to discrimination in the US
- A viral tweetstorm argued that 2020 Democrats should focus exclusively on the moral case against Trump and not on his policies. There's no reason they can't do both.