Talking Points: Rep. Dean Phillips Says Latest Trump Tweets 'Antithetical' To His Principles
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- President Donald Trump this weekend came under fire from critics accusing him once again of racism.
The president tweeted that conditions in the Baltimore district of powerful Congressman Elijah Cummings are far worse than at border detention centers, saying Cummings' district was a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess."
Cummings is chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, and has initiated most of the investigations into the Trump administration, including ones focusing on conditions at migrant detention centers.
Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips is just back from visiting the border and was a guest on WCCO Sunday Morning.
"I am horrified," Phillips said in response to the president's tweets. "It's another example of what we should not be doing, especially the president of the United States of America -- further division, trying to divide urban residents from rural residents, people of color from Caucasian -- and it is antithetical to my principles."
Rep. Cummings responded to Trump on Twitter saying, "It is my constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch. But, it is my moral duty to fight for my constituents."
Mr. President, I go home to my district daily. Each morning, I wake up, and I go and fight for my neighbors.
— Elijah E. Cummings (@RepCummings) July 27, 2019
It is my constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch. But, it is my moral duty to fight for my constituents.
Earlier tweets by the president have focused on Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and three other female, freshman members of Congress.