President Donald Trump keeps getting shown up by those from across the political spectrum. This Friday, leaders gathered at the church of the late Baltimore-area Congressman Elijah Cummings to pay their respects to the recently deceased Democratic leader. Trump was not there, but figures including former President Bill Clinton were. Clinton delivered an emotional eulogy in honor of Cummings, including his recollection of his first interaction with the long-serving Congressman when Cummings was first elected when Clinton was in the White House. The former president also included praise of Cummings’ personal work for equality, which functioned as a de facto rebuke of Trump.
Clinton shared:
‘His legacy is how ardently he honored his oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States… No matter how hard he fought and how passionately he argued, he tried to treat everybody the way he wanted to be treated, the way he thought Americans should be treated. You know, you can’t run a free society if you have to hate everybody you disagree with.’
Clinton drew applause for that last part. Although he did not specifically name Trump, considering the circumstances out there in the real world, the implication landed pretty clearly. Cummings worked to investigate some of the most brazen abuses of power from the Trump administration, and in response, Trump included the Congressman in the long list of people he publicly railed about.
Further signifying the divide present here, some noted that CNN and MSNBC cut away from coverage of Trump to show former President Clinton honoring Cummings. Fox, meanwhile, kept their Trump coverage running.
