Trump Disses Rod Rosenstein: ‘He’s From Baltimore’
Rod Rosenstein was lifted from relative obscurity to serve as the nation’s No. 2 law enforcement authority. When he wound up in charge of the Russia investigation, a clear consensus emerged among his former colleagues and co-workers: Rosenstein, they stressed, is as apolitical as they come.
But President Trump says there’s little doubt about Rosenstein’s political leanings.
“He’s from Baltimore,” Trump told the New York Times in a Wednesday interview, arguing that Attorney General Jeff Sessions knew little about Rosenstein before offering him the job.
“There are very few Republicans in Baltimore, if any,” Trump said. “So, he’s from Baltimore.”
Trump got that last point right. In the 2016 elections, only 10% of the city of Baltimore residents voted for Trump. In the entire state of Maryland, the Trump-Pence ticket got only a third of the votes.
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman