Baltimore Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young has urged President Donald Trump to cancel his scheduled Memorial Day visit to the city, which remains under a stay-at-home order amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Please stay home!” Young, a Democrat, tweeted at Trump on Thursday.
In a statement shared on Twitter, Young said Trump was sending “the wrong message to our residents, many of whom have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 virus” with his planned trip to the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine.
“I wish that the President, as our nation’s leader, would set a positive example and not travel during this holiday weekend,” Young added.
He also noted the high cost the city would incur from the presidential visit. Baltimore is “still dealing with the loss of roughly $20 million in revenue per month” because of the public health crisis and “simply can’t afford to shoulder” the price tag that would accompany Trump’s trip, he wrote.
“I would hope that the President would change his mind and decide to remain at home,” added Young. “If he decides, however, to move forward with his scheduled trip to Baltimore we will, of course, be prepared for his visit.”
Young early last year slammed Trump over his criticism of the city. The president attacked the late Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), calling the longtime lawmaker who died in October a “brutal bully” and describing his majority-black Baltimore district as a “rodent-infested mess.”
“If you want to help us, help us. Don’t talk about us. Send the resources that we need to rebuild America,” Young fired back at Trump at the time. “He’s talking about he wants to make America great again. Put the money in the cities that need it the most, and that way you can make America great again.”
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has also said Trump is unwelcome in her state after the president refused to wear a face mask in front of reporters during Thursday’s visit to a Ford plant. He did briefly don a mask in a private portion of the tour.
“The president is a petulant child who refuses to follow the rules, and I have to say, this is no joke,” Nessel, a Democrat, told CNN.
Check out Nessel’s comments here:
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