Elijah 'always appealed to our better angels': Pelosi

The late Democratic lawmaker Elijah Cummings was eulogized on Friday by Democratic powerhouses, including Pelosi and presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton in his hometown of Baltimore.

A son of sharecroppers, Cummings served for 22 years in the U.S. House of Representatives before his death on Oct. 17. He was an ardent civil rights voice who decades ago endured violence from white mobs as he and other African-Americans sought to integrate a public swimming pool.

The 13-term congressman was credited with helping calm tensions in Baltimore in 2015 when violence erupted following the death of an African-American man in police custody.

He was a high-profile antagonist of President Trump.

The funeral was being held in Cummings' congressional district, which Trump vilified earlier this year as "disgusting, rat and rodent infested."

Cummings responded by saying Trump should visit his majority-black congressional district. "I'll ride with him for hours...I want him to see all of the wonderful things that are happening."

Trump, who is scheduled to speak at a historically black college in South Carolina, is not expected to attend the funeral. It is not clear if other White House officials will be there.