As former First Lady Michelle Obama once famously said, “When they go, we go high”—and that’s exactly what it appears she’s doing following President Donald Trump‘s latest Twitter rant. Only a week after a racially charged Twitter attack on four female congresswomen of color, Trump lashed out on Saturday (July 27) at Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, attacking both Cummings personally and his district in Baltimore.
“Rep, Elijah Cummings has been a brutal bully, shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border, when actually his Baltimore district is FAR WORSE and more dangerous. His district is considered the Worst in the USA,” Trump wrote. “As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded. Cumming District is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess. If he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place.”
The attack, which Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and many others also called out as racist, likely stems from some recent political drama: NPR reported that on Thursday, the House Oversight and Reform Committee, a committee overseen by Cummings, voted to authorize subpoenas for records of senior White House officials’ to ascertain their use of personal emails and text services for work purposes.
Cummings quickly responded to Trump’s tweet, writing in reply, “Mr. President, I go home to my district daily. Each morning, I wake up, and I go and fight for my neighbors. It is my constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch. But, it is my moral duty to fight for my constituents.”
Obama was among those who quickly defended Cummings—and Baltimore—on Twitter. Her response was subtle, but extremely classy: She clapped back against the President’s invective with a tweet highlighting one of her favorite Baltimore organizations, the Lethal Ladies.
“On #NationalDanceDay, I’m shouting out the Lethal Ladies, a Baltimore STEP team who I saw perform back in 2017. I’m so proud of you all—and everyone who’s dancing today,” she tweeted, along with a short video of their performance.
In the video, the young women not only display their talents but send their own powerful message as well.
“What Michelle Obama taught us when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don’t stoop to their level,” their instructor says adding, “Our motto is…” Then, the young women reply in their dance, “When they go low, we go high/Raise our standards to the sky.” Hear, hear.
