"This is not something we take lightly": Reactions are swift after Trump calls Baltimore "rodent infested"
Baltimore — Reactions have been pouring in after President Trump took aim at one of the most prominent African Americans in Congress, Rep. Elijah Cummings. The president fired off multiple tweets calling Cummings a "brutal bully" responsible for a "dangerous" and "filthy" Baltimore district, after Cummings criticized conditions at border detention facilities.
Baltimore barber Sherrod Williams said the president's words sting, but the city's residents have thick skins.
"It's not going to affect people here. If anything, these people have been through so much, and they know what they are up against," Williams said.
No one here denies that "Charm City" has seen some tough times. Since 2014, there have been more than 4,300 shootings in Rep. Elijah Cummings' district, the third highest in the nation.
But far from being a place "no human being would want to live," as the president claimed, the district ranks in the 61st percentile on median household income and has the second-highest median income among districts that are at least half black.
"He attacked Detroit, he attacked Chicago, he attacked Baltimore. These are cities that are known for their African Americans," said Baltimore City Council President Brandon Scott.
After Mr. Trump called Baltimore a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess," The Baltimore Sun's editorial page wrote that it's "better to have some vermin living in your neighborhood than to be one."
"He's called a lot of people a lot of things. This is not something we take lightly," said Andrew Green, the paper's editorial editor.
Top Baltimore businesses also came to the city's defense Monday, including Under Armour and the Baltimore Ravens football team.