Usually, after a mass shooting happens—such as the one that took place last night at the Gilroy Garlic festival—the President of the United States normally addresses the situation, sending their thoughts and prayers out to the victims and their loved ones.
President Trump woke up this morning and decided to hop on Twitter to address Rev. Al Sharpton instead.
After spending a weekend attacking African-American Baltimore Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Trump switched gears towards Rev. Al Sharpton—calling him a “con man” who “Hates Whites & Cops!”
The attacks seem to be a response to a Twitter post in which Sharpton showed himself at an airport “headed to Baltimore,” presumably a reference to the president’s attacks on Cummings this past weekend.
“I have known Al for 25 years,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter as he reposted Mr. Sharpton’s tweet. “Went to fights with him & Don King, always got along well. He ‘loved Trump!’ He would ask me for favors often. Al is a con man, a troublemaker, always looking for a score. Just doing his thing. Must have intimidated Comcast/NBC. Hates Whites & Cops!
I have known Al for 25 years. Went to fights with him & Don King, always got along well. He “loved Trump!” He would ask me for favors often. Al is a con man, a troublemaker, always looking for a score. Just doing his thing. Must have intimidated Comcast/NBC. Hates Whites & Cops! https://t.co/ZwPZa0FWfN
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2019
Sharpton’s news conference came two days after Trump criticized Baltimore as a “rodent-infested mess” were “no human being would want to live”.
The longtime civil rights leader fired back by posting a photo of Trump attending a 2006 conference hosted by Sharpton’s organization, the National Action Network.
Trump at NAN Convention 2006 telling James Brown and Jesse Jackson why he respects my work. Different tune now. pic.twitter.com/mvNQmPdLUh
— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) July 29, 2019
Trump responded on Twitter, saying that Sharpton would “always ask me to go to his events” as “a personal favor. Seldom, but sometimes, I would go. It was fine,” Trump said. “He came to my office in T.T. during the presidential campaign to apologize for the way he was talking about me. Just a conman at work!”
The Twitter exchanges continued with Sharpton saying, “Trump says I’m a troublemaker & con man,” he wrote on Twitter. “I do make trouble for bigots. If he really thought I was a con man, he would want me in his cabinet.”
Trump says I’m a troublemaker & con man. I do make trouble for bigots. If he really thought I was a con man he would want me in his cabinet.
— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) July 29, 2019
And if Cummings thought he was in the clear from Trump attacks, the president went after him again saying “Baltimore, under the leadership of Elijah Cummings, has the worst Crime Statistics in the Nation.” Stating “25 years of all talk, no action! So tired of listening to the same old Bull… Next, Reverend Al will show up to complain & protest. Nothing will get done for the people in need. Sad!”
