President Donald Trump was served a huge piece of humble pie this week after a rodent fell from the ceiling and onto a journalist’s lap during a visit to his “infested” White House on Monday.
Just months ago, the president attacked Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and the city of Baltimore, smearing the congressman’s district as a “rat and rodent-infested mess” where “no human being would want to live.” Now, it seems he’s the one living in a palace overrun with pests.
NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander recalled the moment the furry critter rained on him from above, tweeting, “In other news — a mouse literally fell out of the ceiling in our White House booth and landed on my lap.”
Clips of the ensuing chaos quickly flooded social media, showing reporters scrambling to steer clear of the rodent. In one video, the tiny mouse is seen scurrying behind a cart as some journalists appear to try to lure it out while others filmed with their cellphones.
“It’s still in here?!” a woman is heard asking.
“Yeah, it’s still here,” several voices respond.
As the “rat race” raged on inside the briefing room, critics wasted no time pointing out the hilarious hypocrisy of it all.
“@RealDonaldTrump says Baltimore is rodent infested …,” April Ryan, a fellow White House reporter, tweeted. “However, why did a mouse fall from the ceiling onto a reporter’s leg today in the White House briefing room?”
The veteran journalist mentioned a similar incident from years earlier when Fox News pundit Ed Henry “swatted one that fell from the ceiling ands hit his keyboard.”
NBC Digital News reporter Shannon Pettypeice joked that “this is the most excitement in the White House briefing room in months.”
Mouse in the @NBCNews booth at @WhiteHouse today after falling from the ceiling and landing on @PeterAlexander pic.twitter.com/qN5Ww06QFp
— Jabin Botsford (@jabinbotsford) October 1, 2019
Many Baltimore residents also joined the fun, taking to social media to mock the president’s hypocrisy.
“The White House is a rodent-infested dump with mice falling out of the ceiling!” one man wrote. “I blame slumlord @realDonaldTrump and the cheeseburger wrappers he leaves all over the place. We never had these problems before decent people like the Obamas had to leave the neighborhood!”
“Ain’t this about a b—h, but Trump calls Baltimore dirty!!!” another chimed in. “45, clean your own house before you come after ours!”
Another local opined: “Look at God. Rats and mice are raining in the White House after Trump called us a rat and rodent infested mess.”
One man said he was more than glad to be in Batimore and “not in the rodent infested White House.”
The incident has proven awkward for Trump, who’s resided at the White House for nearly three years and likely experienced its pest problem first-hand. In 2017, a skin-crawling report revealed that the 132-room mansion has a vermin issue, with cockroaches, ants and mice crawling the place.
“They are old buildings,” former GSA Inspector General Brian Miller told NBC News Washington at the time. “Any of us who have old houses know old houses need a lot of work.”
The White House’s rodent problem has been going on for months now. In July, journalists reported seeing newly installed rat traps throughout the home.
Watch more in the clips below.
