All week long, the media have played up a series of tweets from President Donald Trump calling into question the conditions in Baltimore under the leadership of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee.
Some have said Trump’s remarks crossed boundaries and there were several claims of veiled racism scattered throughout the media.
During an interview with Huntsville, AL radio WVNN’s “The Jeff Poor Show” earlier this week, Cummings’ House of Representatives colleague Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL), chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, noted the problems with Baltimore and said he could see why Trump could be frustrated with Baltimore given his efforts to improve the lives of those existing on low income.
“He didn’t single out Cummings’ district, I don’t think,” Palmer said. “I think he spoke specifically about Baltimore. And Baltimore has been a train wreck for a long time — an incredibly high murder rate. The murder rate in Baltimore, I think, on a per capita basis might be higher than Guatemala. So, we might need to give some Baltimore residents asylum. You can say the same thing about St. Louis. I think the president stirs things up sometimes where he may be right, but because of how he says it, you lose the bigger message.”
“But he is right — this administration has done more to try to help low-income people and particularly blacks and Hispanics than any administration in my memory,” he added. “They’re very serious about trying to help people rise above the condition they’re in right now. And I can see why the president would be frustrated with the condition of things in Baltimore.”
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