Trump’s Visit to “Rodent Infested” Baltimore to Be Met with Protests

Diane Bernard, Public News Service – MD

BALTIMORE – Just six weeks after President Donald Trump attacked Baltimore on Twitter as a “rat- and rodent-infested mess,” a group of activists plans to protest the president’s appearance here Thursday.

Trump will be speaking at the 2019 House Republican retreat dinner at a downtown hotel.

Outside, hundreds are expected to rally against his policies on immigration, war and climate change, says Miranda Bachman, an organizer for ICE Out of Baltimore, one of the groups involved in the protest.

“We deeply oppose Trump’s policies, his policies of racism, his policies of division, of workers of oppressed people and poor people,” she states. “We’ve seen him attack migrants, refugees, and make attacks that are not so veiled and are racist.”

Trump has stood by his comments on majority-black Baltimore and his criticism of U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, whose district includes parts of Baltimore.

The “No Racists on Our Streets” rally at 4 p.m. is the first of a series of demonstrations to be held over the next four days against the GOP and Trump.

Young people are especially angry at the president’s refusal to take action against climate change, according to Sharon Black, a spokeswoman for People’s Power Assembly, another of the grassroots groups planning the rallies.

“On the heels of the Bahama islands and his knee-jerk response to turn away people who, just as a result of the climate crisis, are in dire straits, is close to criminal, in my opinion,” Black states.

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows Trump trailing in the 2020 presidential election campaign.

Of registered voters surveyed, 40% said they’d vote for Trump while 55% said they would vote for former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden.