“Steely Yet Compassionate”: Barack Obama Eulogizes Elijah Cummings

Rep. Elijah Cummings welcomes Barack Obama onstage at a presidential campaign event in 2007.Marvin Joseph/Getty

Former President Barack Obama expressed his grief over the death of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) Thursday, calling the late House Oversight Committee chairman “steely yet compassionate, principled yet open to new perspectives.”

“He showed us all not only the importance of checks and balances within our democracy, but also the necessity of good people stewarding it,” Obama wrote in a statement. “True to the giants of progress he followed into public service, Chairman Cummings stood tallest and most resolute when our country needed him the most.”

Cummings, one of Obama’s earliest supporters for president, co-chaired his campaign in Maryland in 2008.

Read the statement below:

Obama: Cummings “stood tallest and most resolute when our country needed him the most.” pic.twitter.com/Mkiug1j7PL

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) October 17, 2019