Pelosi fires back at Trump over Baltimore: ‘Ask your slumlord son-in-law about rat infestations’

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi went on the offensive against President Donald Trump this week, speaking to reporters at the Capitol about his recent comments decrying living conditions in the city of Baltimore.

The President derided the Maryland city in his attacks against House Judiciary Chairman Elijah Cummings, a Democrat who represents the city.

In tweets from over the last weekend, Trump wrote that Cummings “has been a brutal bully” toward him. Trump also said Cummings’ Baltimore district “is FAR WORSE” than conditions at border detention facilities, and added the district “is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.”

Many saw the attacks by Trump as racist, as the district is a majority-black area, and especially harsh in comparison to other attacks he’s made against others.

Pelosi, who grew up in Baltimore herself, condemned Trump’s words and suggested he should be focused on someone in his family instead: his son-in-law and presidential adviser, Jared Kushner.

“The president — this comes as no surprise — really doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Pelosi said according to The Washington Post. “But maybe you could ask his son-in-law, who is a slumlord there, if he wants to talk about rodent infestations.”

Conditions at Kushner’s family’s properties have faced sharp criticisms in the past.

Two years ago, the Baltimore County government issued a statement on how bad conditions were at Kushner’s family-owned properties. The press release from the county cited more than 200 code violations over the course of just 10 months, MarketWatch reported.

Customers claimed, among other problems, that they had rats, bedbugs, roaches, leaks, and even black mold in their homes. Prolonged exposure to black mold alone can lead to nasuea, vomiting, and bleeding in the lungs.

In a statement in response to the county’s press release, Kushner Cos. stated it provided a “high quality residential experience for our tenants.”

Featured image via White House/Gage Skidmore 

Chris Walker

Chris Walker is a freelance news and opinion writer based out of Madison, Wisconsin. With more than 15 years of experience, Chris has published work that spans three separate presidencies. In his free time, Chris likes to pretend he can play guitar.