The Wire's David Simon is Coming for Anyone Who Attacks Baltimore—Especially Trump
In a series of weekend Twitter attacks, President Trump slammed yet another non-white congress member and yet another black community, calling Rep. Elijah Cummings a "brutal bully" and his Baltimore district a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess" where "no human being would want to live." But Baltimoreans rose to Charm City’s defense, from The Baltimore Sun’s incredible op-ed to remarks from Mayor Jack Young. And among the city’s most voluble defenders was David Simon, the creator of The Wire, who’s been going off on those would disparage his hometown since Saturday and, as of Monday morning, shows no signs of letting up.
The Wire, and its depiction of poverty and crime in Baltimore, has become the most dominant representation of the city in pop culture. But Simon drew a clear line between acknowledging the city’s struggles, which he he noted are "historical/systemic," and Trump’s racist screed.
2) without regard to the complexity of those systemic affronts and just blame some solitary Congressman — who doesn’t even have jurisdiction over municipal function — because Cummings is black and criticized Trump and Trump can’t abide either. Fuck him and you in equal measure.
— David Simon (@AoDespair) July 29, 2019
He also let fly some pretty choice insults.
No, it’s like every fookmook getting this moronic meme today never watched it, or if they did, were lost after 15 minutes and should have flipped channels to CSI. I can’t write for an audience this stupid. There’s be no point. https://t.co/iSpXKS1G8V
— David Simon (@AoDespair) July 29, 2019
And pretty much decimated an argument from Ben Shapiro.
....problems are rooted in more than 70 years of bipartisan policies and abdications — US housing redlines, deindustrialization, drug warring and mass incarceration, massive white flight and collapsing tax base after Brown — and to ignore all that and deliver a screed Against...
— David Simon (@AoDespair) July 29, 2019
...yet another black legislator who actually has economic numbers for his district superior to a host of red-state districts is contemptible. Your normalizing the maneuver equally so. You’re Trump’s audience, just as fecal and cynical as the message.
— David Simon (@AoDespair) July 29, 2019
Dominic West, who played who played Detective Jimmy McNulty in the series, also delivered an artful jab at Trump. In an email to The Guardian, West wrote, “What would a lonely hysterical neurotic who uses hand cleanser all day understand about a vibrant community like Baltimore?”
He also compared the president to British serial killer Fred West, who murdered at least a dozen young women and who was portrayed by the actor in the 2011 miniseries Appropriate Adult. But West wasn’t accusing Trump of having any bodies buried in the South Lawn. "Martin Amis said of Fred West the serial killer that he was a 'colossus of mendacity.'" wrote the actor. "It’s an apt description of Trump."
In addition to sparring with critics, David Simon posted a photo of himself in a Ravens cap seated on a Baltimore stoop. "#WEAREBALTIMORE and there's a block party today on my southside street," he wrote. "This is a city of good Americans who deserve more than a grifting, hollow and self-absorbed failure of a man as their president."
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