CNN anchor Victor Blackwell struggled to keep his composure Saturday while reporting on President Trump’s Twitter tirade against Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and his congressional district in Baltimore.
Blackwell, 38, told viewers he’s a Baltimore native and took personal offense to the president’s comments about the city, including Trump’s remark that “No human being would want to live there.”
“You know who did, Mr. President? I did,” Blackwell responded on the air Saturday. “From the day I was brought home from the hospital to the day I left for college, and a lot of people I care about still do.”
TRUMP SLAMS ‘BRUTAL BULLY’ ELIJAH CUMMINGS, CLAIMS BALTIMOREDISTRICT IS ‘MORE DANGEROUS’ THAN BORDER
“There are challenges no doubt, but people are proud of their community,” Blackwell continued, according to the Daily Beast. “I don’t want to sound self-righteous, but people get up and go to work there. They care for their families there. They love their children who pledge allegiance to the flag just like people who live in districts of congressmen who support you, sir. They are Americans, too!”
Blackwell also referred to the president’s use of the word “infested” during his critique of Baltimore. The CNN anchor accused the president of taking a word normally associated with rodents and insects and using in attacks against lawmakers who are members of minority groups.
“He’s insulted thousands of people, many different types of people,” Blackwell said, according to the Washington Post. “But when he tweets about infestation, it’s about black and brown people.”
Antagonistic relationship
Trump and CNN have long had an antagonistic relationship, with the president often accusing the network of reporting “fake news” and referring to it as “the enemy of the people.”
Just days ago, CNN’s Jake Tapper ripped the president for tweeting, “TRUTH IS A FORCE OF NATURE!” after former Special Counsel Robert Mueller testified on Capitol Hill.
“It’s interesting for the president to be saying in all caps that truth is a force of nature,” Tapper remarked, “because what we’ve been hearing about to a large degree all day is how many lies President Trump and the team have told.”
Earlier this month, CNN’s Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon took Trump to task for spelling errors in his social media messages.
“If you are the president of the United States and people hang on your every word,” Lemon said, “then you should check and recheck and double-check and triple-check and make sure that your spelling is correct.”
“If you are the president of the United States and people hang on your every word, then you should check and recheck and double-check and triple-check and make sure that your spelling is correct.”
Also this month, CNN’s Anderson Cooper accused the president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, of misrepresenting a situation that occurred in North Carolina, where a crowd a one of President Trump’s rallies chanted “Send her back!” in reference to far-left U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., an immigrant from Somalia.
“She’s just friggin’ lying,” Cooper said at one point.
“She’s just friggin’ lying.”
Contentious moment
Perhaps the most contentious moment between the president and the network came last November, when the White House suspended the press pass of Jim Acosta, CNN’s White House correspondent.
The move was prompted by what the White House viewed as inappropriate questions from Acosta, plus an incident where the reporter appeared to have placed his hands on a White House intern in what appeared to be an attempt to prevent her from taking a microphone back from him during a news conference.
The suspension against Acosta was ultimately lifted. Last month he put out a book about his time covering the White House, with the title, “The Enemy of the People.”
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