Jenna Bush Hager Says She 'Adores' Kids She Taught in Baltimore Amid Trump's Rant About the City
As President Donald Trump continues to denigrate Baltimore and the surrounding congressional district represented by one of his fiercest critics, Jenna Bush Hager, a former first daughter and Baltimore teacher, is speaking up to defend the people who live there.
“I taught in West Baltimore. I adore my kids, their parents, and grandparents,” Hager, 37, wrote on Twitter on Saturday. “They all want the same thing I want for my kids: the chance for their children to have safe, happy and productive lives.”
Hager continued: “Let’s think about the language we use, who it hurts.”
Now a Today co-host, Hager was responding to a CNN segment featuring the network’s Victor Blackwell, a Baltimore native, in which he became emotional discussing the president’s tirade.
“There are challenges no doubt, but people are proud of their community. I don’t want to sound self-righteous, but people get up and go to work there,” Blackwell said. “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.”
In a series of tweets that began Saturday and continued into Monday morning, Trump, 73, described Baltimore in near-apocalyptic terms.
Trump began by saying Cummings was being hypocritical for assailing how border officials were treating migrants. (Advocates and lawmakers have described dirty and desolate conditions for migrants being held in detention at the border while their cases are pending.)
The president referred to the district represented by Rep. Elijah Cummings, who oversees House investigations of Trump’s administration, as “the worst run and most dangerous anywhere in the United States” and “a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.”
Cummings’ district includes Baltimore and parts of two Maryland counties. As noted by FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver and others, the district “has above-average college education rates and home prices … [and] is the 2nd-wealthiest majority-black district in the country.”
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In a later tweet, the president decried the crime rate in Baltimore as the fault of Cummings, a longtime congressman who does not run the city.
Trump has been widely denounced for his remarks, as he was earlier this month when he said that four congresswomen of color, all of whom are American, should “go back” to their countries of origin — a well-worn racist attack.
Following outcry for his criticism of Cummings, the president insisted he was not being racist: “There is nothing racist in stating plainly what most people already know, that Elijah Cummings has done a terrible job for the people of his district, and of Baltimore itself,” he tweeted on Sunday.
He has been met with, at most, mild disapproval from other major Republicans, including Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.
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Like Hager, former First Lady Michelle Obama also spoke out about Baltimore in the wake of Trump’s tweets but did not mention the president by name.
“On #NationalDanceDay, I’m shouting out the Lethal Ladies, a Baltimore STEP team who I saw perform back in 2017,” Obama tweeted on Saturday. “I’m so proud of you all—and everyone who’s dancing today!”
