David Simon, creator of The Wire calls Trump a “grifting, hollow and self-absorbed failure of a man”

Over the past few days, David Simon chimed in on President Trump's tweets about Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings and his district.

“Why is so much money sent to the Elijah Cummings district when it is considered the worst run and most dangerous anywhere in the United States,” he wrote. “No human being would want to live there. Where is all this money going? How much is stolen? Investigate this corrupt mess immediately!”

David Simon, who was a journalist for the Baltimore Sun and created and wrote the HBO series The Wire set in Baltimore, fired back at the President, calling him a, “grifting, hollow and self-absorbed failure of a man” and, “a permanent stain on our land.”

#WEAREBALTIMORE and there's a block party today on my southside street. This is a city of good Americans who deserve more than a grifting, hollow and self-absorbed failure of a man as their president. @realDonaldTrump is a permanent stain on our land. pic.twitter.com/sQAeE7pC1p

— David Simon (@AoDespair) July 28, 2019

Simon went further and debunked the President’s claim that Representative Cummings was responsible for the status of Baltimore. As a US Representative, Cummings represents the 7^th Congressional District of Maryland, which partially includes the city of Baltimore. At best, Representative Cummings has minimal influence with the city's administration.

“U.S. Representatives have no jurisdiction over municipal law enforcement or state courts,” Simon reminded his followers. “And with the exception being one of 435 votes on legislative issues, they do not operate the U.S. Department of Justice.”

U.S. Representatives have no jurisdiction over municipal law enforcement or state courts. And with the exception being one of 435 votes on legislative issues, they do not operate the U.S. Department of Justice. But your capital letters are exciting for the kids. https://t.co/4TWGCW1pZU

— David Simon (@AoDespair) July 27, 2019

Many have pointed to Trump's claims of the city being particularly dangerous and "rat and rodent infested" as a trope used against communities of colour.

Comparisons between communities of colour and animals have historically been used in racist attempts to dehumanise people of colour. Representative Cummings is black and so is the majority of his district.

1) A mayor has led it. A governor funds it and oversees that process. 2) A US representative does neither but he is black and a critic of the President, who can stand neither as he is a racist and deserving of criticism. 3) Rationalizing the above dynamic is for racists. https://t.co/fNOhzebs4X

— David Simon (@AoDespair) July 29, 2019

“The president is ‘literally’ a simplistic, racist moron,” tweeted Simon. “I am ‘literally’ the guy writing stuff about the last century of U.S. policy, about the drug war and mass incarceration, about Brown v. and white flight, about all of modern U.S. history to which your kind stays mute.”

The president is "literally" a simplistic, racist moron. I am "literally" the guy writing stuff about the last century of U.S. policy, about the drug war and mass incarceration, about Brown v. and white flight, about all of modern U.S. history to which your kind stays mute. https://t.co/bZbd9ie6BK

— David Simon (@AoDespair) July 27, 2019

Simon’s show, The Wire, featured many facets of Baltimore’s drug problem and reported on crime for the Baltimore Sun. Back in 2008, Hot Press co-hosted a screening of the final series along with IFI and David Simon himself.

Hot Press previously described the show as, “the only serious contender for The Sopranos’ title of greatest TV show of all time.”