Pelosi spox corrects Matt Gaetz: Elijah Cummings not one of the black Democrats on trip to Italy and Ghana

by John Gage


July 27, 2019 08:19 PM


A spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi corrected Rep. Matt Gaetz after he claimed Rep. Elijah Cummings, the Maryland Democrat targeted by President Trump's tweets Saturday, was in the Democratic congressional delegation visiting Italy and Ghana.

"@RepCummings is not on the Pelosi CODEL marking the 400th Anniversary of the First Enslaved Africans Landing in America. US Army Africa HQ is in Italy," deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill said on Twitter after the Florida Republican said Cummings had gone on the trip.



Pelosi Leads Delegation to Ghana and U.S. Army Africa Headquarters

Drew Hammill

@Drew_Hammill

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@RepCummings is not on the Pelosi CODEL marking the 400th Anniversary of the First Enslaved Africans Landing in America. US Army Africa HQ is in Italy. (link: https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/72619-2/) speaker.gov/newsroom/72619…

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Matt Gaetz

@mattgaetz
· Jul 27
Honest question the media should ask @SpeakerPelosi & @RepCummings - Did you have a fake impeachment presser and then fly off to Venice? cc: @juliegraceb @mkraju @DailyCaller @brookefoxnews @npfandos @jeremyherb
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7:07 PM · Jul 27, 2019·Twitter

Gaetz had been reacting to the tweets from Trump about Cummings. The president called the black congressman a "brutal bully" and described his black-majority district as a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess" and "more dangerous" than the southern border.

"He is currently in Venice, Italy w Pelosi," the 37-year-old congressman said in reply. "Honest question the media should ask @SpeakerPelosi & @RepCummings - Did you have a fake impeachment presser and then fly off to Venice?"

The Washington Examiner has reached out to Gaetz for comment.

Rallying to Cummings' defense, Democrats called Trump's tweets racist, including Pelosi. Baltimore Mayor Bernard Young said Trump is "a disappointment to the people of Baltimore, our country, and to the world."

Pelosi was joined on the trip to by several other black Democrats, including Majority Whip James Clyburn, Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Karen Bass, Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Ilhan Omar, and Rep. John Lewis.

The Democratic delegation is visiting the U.S. Army Africa headquarters in Italy. They will also visit Ghana, a trip that coincides with the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved Africans landing in America. Pelosi will be the first speaker of House to address the Ghanaian Parliament.



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