MSNBC Analyst: Trump Is 'Shredding Constitution,' 'Could Lead to Some Sort of Horrible Civil War'
MSNBC political analyst Karine Jean-Pierre alleged on Monday that President Donald Trump is “shredding the Constitution” and his rhetoric “could lead to some sort of horrible Civil War.”
Jean-Pierre’s comments on “Morning Joe” came in response to Trump tweets in which he charged that Rep. Elijah Cumming’s Baltimore district is a “rat and rodent infested mess” and “far more dangerous than the southern border.”
“On Jan. 20, 2017, Donald Trump put his hand on the Bible — technically two Bibles — and took the oath of the presidency to be a president for all of us,” Jean-Pierre, said, according to Mediaite.
“And since that day, since that moment, every hour, he seems to just prove that to be wrong. He is not a president for black people. He’s not a president for women. He’s not a president for brown people. He’s not a president for the LGBTQ community. He chooses to just double down and triple down on bigotry and racism.”
Jean-Pierre — MoveOn.org’s chief public affairs officer — further predicted the consequences could be catastrophic if Republicans don’t stand up to the president.
“I don’t know where Donald Trump wants to take this,” she said. “But wherever it is, it’s going to be dangerous. It could lead to some sort of a horrible civil war. … He is testing us. He’s testing the democracy. He’s shredding the Constitution. And so, Republicans — the leadership in the Republican Party — need to stand up. You have to speak up. Because if you don’t, you are encouraging this. You are picking Donald Trump, loyalty to Donald Trump, instead of to the country.”
To put Trump’s initial tweets against Cummings in full context, here is what he wrote on Saturday.
“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,” he wrote.
“As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded,” Cumming(s’) 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,” Trump added.
….As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded. Cumming 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
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2019
It was a classic counterpunch by the president, which he has been engaging in since shortly after he first announced his candidacy in June 2015.
Cummings did scream at acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing earlier this month. Cummings, chairman of the committee, hammered McAleenan after he said his agency is doing its best under challenging circumstances to deal with the surge of migrants at the southern border, including hundreds of thousands of children.
“You feel like you’re doing a great job, right?” the Democrat asked in a mocking tone.
“We’re doing our level best in a very challenging –” McAleenan began to answer before Cummings cut him off.
“What does that mean?!” he yelled, saying children are in dirty diapers and unable to take showers.
“Come on man, what’s that about?!” Cummings continued. “None of us would have our children in that position! They are human beings! And I get tired of saying, ‘Oh, they’re just beating up on the Border Patrol. Oh, they’re just beating up on Homeland Security.’ …
“We are the United States of America! We are the greatest country in the world. We are the ones that can go anywhere in the world and save people. Make sure that they have diapers. Make sure that they have toothbrushes. Make sure they’re not laying around defecating in some silver paper. Come on, we’re better than that!”
Rep. Elijah Cummings slams acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan when he says his agency is doing its ‘level best’ pic.twitter.com/PNUEvx3PJF
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) July 18, 2019
The same could be said right back at Cummings.
He assumed office representing Maryland’s 7th Congressional District, which includes some of the most run-down, poverty laden parts of Baltimore, in 1996.
Cummings served during the presidencies of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama — through both Democratic- and Republican-controlled Houses — yet Baltimore’s problems persist.
In December 2015, Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders described parts of the city as 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’d think you’re in a third world country,” Sanders said.
“What we’re talking about is a community in which half of the people don’t have jobs,” he continued. “We talking about a community in which there are hundreds of buildings are uninhabitable.”
GOP strategist Kimberly Klacik documented over the weekend how Sanders’ observation still appears to be true.
In this video, @RepCummings constituents explain how clean Coppin State University is kept, while their neighborhood is used as a dumping ground. I was told if trash was not in marked green cans, the city refused to remove it. More abandoned row houses. #WestBaltimore pic.twitter.com/wuSNoiNJED
— Kimberly Klacik (@kimKBaltimore) July 27, 2019
Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh came to Trump’s defense on Monday on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”
“You’re not supposed to criticize anything that Democrats run. You’re not supposed to criticize anything minorities are involved because you’re automatically considered racist,” Limbaugh said.
“The president is not a racist,” he continued. “Wherever you find this decadent decay, you’re going to find Democrats having run the operation for decades.”
What Trump is saying about Baltimore is “the absolute truth, but it’s not supposed to be said about anyplace the Democrats are in charge,” Limbaugh said.
Even if the president somehow deep in his heart of hearts wanted to be a racist chief executive, he certainly hasn’t been good at it, given the record low unemployment for minorities and legislation such as the First Step Act.
Democrats like Jean-Pierre truly have become like the boy who cried wolf too often, and Americans are seeing through it.
Neither Republicans in Congress (the party of Abraham Lincoln) nor the president is enacting policies aimed at hurting or disadvantaging minorities, but many in the Democratic Party, including Cummings, have a record of failure for which they should be ashamed.
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