Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said he has “no doubt” President Donald Trump is a racist following the president’s recent attacks on four Democratic congresswomen of color in which he told them to “go back” to other countries. “What I’m hearing over and over again from my constituents is, please save our democracy,” Cummings told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “They say, ‘I’m scared.’ And I have never in my total of 37 years in public service ever heard a constituent say that they were scared of their leader,” Cummings said, referencing Trump. Asked if he believes Trump is a racist, Cummings said yes. “No doubt about it,” the Maryland lawmaker said. “I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but ... when I think about what he said to these young ladies who are merely trying to bring excellence to government ... it takes me back.”

.@GStephanopoulos: "Do you believe President Trump is a racist?"



Rep. Elijah Cummings: "Yes, no doubt about it. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt" https://t.co/3Hpmyqr8Swpic.twitter.com/CmAMlojlwT — This Week (@ThisWeekABC) July 21, 2019

The chairman of the House Oversight Committee said Trump’s vitriolic rhetoric toward the four freshman lawmakers ― Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) ― reminds him of the racism he faced in the 1960s. “When the president does these things, it brings up the same feelings that I had over 50-something years ago,” Cummings told ABC. “It’s very, very painful. It’s extremely divisive. And I just don’t think that this is becoming of the president of the United States of America.”

Rep. Elijah Cummings says the "send her back" chants remind him of his experience in the fight for desegregation in the 60s: "When [Trump] does these things ... it brings up the same feelings that I had over 50 some years ago, and it's very, very painful" https://t.co/3Hpmyqr8Swpic.twitter.com/K1EHpNEvcV — This Week (@ThisWeekABC) July 21, 2019