Cummings: Not clear if Trump ‘knew what the CBC was’

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said he didn’t think President Trump knew what a reporter meant when she said “CBC” in a press conference — referring to the Congressional Black Caucus.

“Well, first of all, I don’t think he knew what the CBC was,” Cummings said on MSNBC on Thursday. “And then, I think, Chris, the young lady, Ms. [April] Ryan, cleared it up and made sure he knew who it was.”

Cummings also mocked the president’s exchange with the American Urban Radio Networks correspondent, in which she asked Trump if he planned to include the CBC in discussions about his urban agenda.

{mosads}“Tell you what, do you want to set up the meeting?” Trump asked Ryan. “Do you want to set up the meeting? Are they friends of yours? Set up a meeting.”

Cummings said that Trump’s comment hinged on the assumption that “all black people know all black people.”

“I think, you know, a lot people assume that all black people know all black people,” Cummings said.

“And then the idea that the president would ask somebody in the press pool to set up a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus — he’s the president of the United States of America, he can make that phone call himself.”

During the Thursday news conference, Trump accused Cummings, a member of the CBC, of canceling a scheduled meeting with him for political reasons. The Maryland representative responded to the president’s claim, saying in a statement that he didn’t know “why President Trump would make up a story about me like he did today.”

The CBC also pushed back against Trump’s claim, tweeting that it had sent a letter to the president on Jan. 19 but never received a response.

The White House contacted the CBC after the tweet on Thursday to schedule a meeting.