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Steve Cortes: Trump's Baltimore Tweets Not Racist, No Human Wants To Live In Rat-Infested Ghetto
Steve Cortes: Trump's Baltimore Tweets Not Racist, No Human Wants To Live In Rat-Infested Ghetto
CNN political commentator Steve Cortes makes the case that President Trump's tweets about Baltimore's rat infestation have nothing to do with race:
Transcript via CNN:
Transcript via CNN:
HALA GORANI: Well, let's dig deeper into these president's latest offensive comments and the upcoming debates. Steve Cortes is a CNN political commentator and he's a member of the Trump 2020 reelection committee and he joins me now live from Chicago.
Steve, how is it OK that the president is still saying things four days later like living in Baltimore is living in hell when he's become very obvious he's offending millions of Americans with these tweets and comments?
STEVE CORTES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Hala, I think what he's actually doing is providing an important contrast and the contrast is the indignation on the left, both by politicians of the Democratic Party and by most of the mainstream media in America. Their indignation when they look at conditions on the border. Because they don't like the way in which United States is carrying for illegal migrant trespassers who came into our country uninvited and un-vetted. When we contrast that --
GORANI: If you don't mind, they're not all illegal. Some of them are asylum seekers and you know this. I want to ask you about the tweets themselves. These tweets have been called racists by people --
CORTES: OK. No, no, hold on. Hold on. They are illegal. They are illegal.
GORANI: But no, you're muddying the debates right out of the gate, and you know it.
CORTES: It's not legal to cross -- it's not legal - it's not legal to cross -- no, it's I'm not. It's not legal to cross at a non-port of entry to seek asylum. So that's not true, they are illegal trespassers --
GORANI: I want to talk about the tweets now. I want to talk about the tweets.
CORTES: Right. And the tweets started with --
GORANI: So many has called them racists --
CORTES: -- and the tweets were a contrast --
GORANI: Why do you disagree?
CORTES: Because the tweets, what they did was highlighted the incredible contrast between the left that wants to care for non-Americans, illegal trespassers across our border, and yet does not seem to prioritize American citizens who live an incredibly poor conditions, who lack hope, how lack education. And in some cases who lack --
GORANI: Steve, those are not what the tweets said.
CORTES: Yes, it is. And in some cases they lack even --
GORANI: He was attacking Elijah Cummings.
CORTES: -- first-world standards of living. But he was attacking the conditions in Baltimore --
GORANI: He was attacking Elijah Cummings and he was calling people who live in Baltimore subhuman, by saying no human people would want --
CORTES: No, he was not, that's wrong. And by the way, no human does want to live in a ghetto, no human wants to live in a place that is infested with rats. That is correct and true. And certainly no Americans should --
GORANI: Baltimore has a higher median household income than some Republican controlled districts. So I'm not sure where you get the entire city is infested with rats.
CORTES: Sure. But as you well know -- I've never said that. Again, you're trying to create a strawman here saying the entire city is infested.
I didn't say that. Donald Trump didn't say that. That's not -- it's not a fair tactic.
However, there are parts of the city, which according to Bernie Sanders, not according to me, there are parts of the city which resembled the third-world. It's interesting that we didn't see outrage when Bernie Sanders said that. And by the way, it was accurate when he said it.
We didn't see outrage then why? Because it came from the left. Now that it comes from Donald Trump, there's outrage among Democratic politicians
and their allies in the mainstream media, why? Because Donald Trump says it and suddenly it becomes racist even though he never mentioned race.
What I think is racist is consigning American citizens, particularly American children to live lives that are without hope, to live in dangerous neighborhoods to go to failing schools as they do in Baltimore, as they do here in my city of Chicago, places that are completely controlled by the Democratic Party.
I think they need to be called out, the Democrats, on their exploitation of minority communities in in this country. They want their votes, but they don't want to help their communities.....
Steve, how is it OK that the president is still saying things four days later like living in Baltimore is living in hell when he's become very obvious he's offending millions of Americans with these tweets and comments?
STEVE CORTES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Hala, I think what he's actually doing is providing an important contrast and the contrast is the indignation on the left, both by politicians of the Democratic Party and by most of the mainstream media in America. Their indignation when they look at conditions on the border. Because they don't like the way in which United States is carrying for illegal migrant trespassers who came into our country uninvited and un-vetted. When we contrast that --
GORANI: If you don't mind, they're not all illegal. Some of them are asylum seekers and you know this. I want to ask you about the tweets themselves. These tweets have been called racists by people --
CORTES: OK. No, no, hold on. Hold on. They are illegal. They are illegal.
GORANI: But no, you're muddying the debates right out of the gate, and you know it.
CORTES: It's not legal to cross -- it's not legal - it's not legal to cross -- no, it's I'm not. It's not legal to cross at a non-port of entry to seek asylum. So that's not true, they are illegal trespassers --
GORANI: I want to talk about the tweets now. I want to talk about the tweets.
CORTES: Right. And the tweets started with --
GORANI: So many has called them racists --
CORTES: -- and the tweets were a contrast --
GORANI: Why do you disagree?
CORTES: Because the tweets, what they did was highlighted the incredible contrast between the left that wants to care for non-Americans, illegal trespassers across our border, and yet does not seem to prioritize American citizens who live an incredibly poor conditions, who lack hope, how lack education. And in some cases who lack --
GORANI: Steve, those are not what the tweets said.
CORTES: Yes, it is. And in some cases they lack even --
GORANI: He was attacking Elijah Cummings.
CORTES: -- first-world standards of living. But he was attacking the conditions in Baltimore --
GORANI: He was attacking Elijah Cummings and he was calling people who live in Baltimore subhuman, by saying no human people would want --
CORTES: No, he was not, that's wrong. And by the way, no human does want to live in a ghetto, no human wants to live in a place that is infested with rats. That is correct and true. And certainly no Americans should --
GORANI: Baltimore has a higher median household income than some Republican controlled districts. So I'm not sure where you get the entire city is infested with rats.
CORTES: Sure. But as you well know -- I've never said that. Again, you're trying to create a strawman here saying the entire city is infested.
I didn't say that. Donald Trump didn't say that. That's not -- it's not a fair tactic.
However, there are parts of the city, which according to Bernie Sanders, not according to me, there are parts of the city which resembled the third-world. It's interesting that we didn't see outrage when Bernie Sanders said that. And by the way, it was accurate when he said it.
We didn't see outrage then why? Because it came from the left. Now that it comes from Donald Trump, there's outrage among Democratic politicians
and their allies in the mainstream media, why? Because Donald Trump says it and suddenly it becomes racist even though he never mentioned race.
What I think is racist is consigning American citizens, particularly American children to live lives that are without hope, to live in dangerous neighborhoods to go to failing schools as they do in Baltimore, as they do here in my city of Chicago, places that are completely controlled by the Democratic Party.
I think they need to be called out, the Democrats, on their exploitation of minority communities in in this country. They want their votes, but they don't want to help their communities.....
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