Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon, “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,” in his ongoing criticism of the congressman for his verbal attacks on Border Patrol.
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
The day before, Trump also called out Cummings, calling him a “brutal bully” while noting that Cumming’s Baltimore district was in “FAR WORSE” shape than the situation at the southern border. Democrats slammed Trump’s tweets as “racist” in return, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Trump hit back, citing claims of racism against Pelosi from some progressive Democrats. He also posted that “African American unemployment is the lowest (best) in the history of the United States,” under his administration.
Under the Trump Administration, African American unemployment is the lowest (best) in the history of the United States. No President has come close to doing this before! I also created successful Opportunity Zones. Waiting for Nancy and Elijah to say, “Thank you, Mr. President!”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2019
The population of Cummings' district is about 55% black and includes a large portion of Baltimore.
In 2018, Baltimore had a population of 611,648 people and 309 homicides, according to Business Insider; with more than 300 homicides per year over the past four years, it is one of four American cities to rank among the 50 most dangerous in the world. It is second only to St. Louis among US cities in terms of annual murders. According to the most recent US census, 62.8% of the city's population is African-American.