US President Donald Trump on Sunday defended his criticism of an African-born lawmaker who has repeatedly accused him of racism.
In a series of tweets on Saturday, Trump wrote that "the Elijah Cummings circle is a disgusting mess, infested with rats and rodents." If he spent more time in Baltimore, he could have helped clean up this very dangerous and dirty place. "
"No one wants to live in it."
The tweets sparked a wave of criticism, but he defended himself on Sunday in a series of new tweets.
"It is not wrong to show a very clear fact that the performance of congressman Elijah Cummings was very bad for his region and the city of Baltimore," he wrote.
"Just look, the facts speak better than the words, the Democrats are always playing racism, while they have done very little to the people of this great country of African-Americans," he said.
"Unemployment has now reached its lowest level in US history, and the situation is getting better." Elijah Cummings has failed enormously.
Trump´s tumult sparked a wave of new accusations on Saturday, less than two weeks after his four deputies called on minority Democrats to "go back where they came from."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, born in Baltimore, condemned "racist attacks" against Cummings, "the biggest defender in Congress and in the country for civil rights and economic justice."
The city on the east coast of the United States faces growing social problems with the spread of drugs and crime, and is one of the most violent US cities with more than 300 murders a year since 2015.
In another tweet on Sunday, Trump said Pelosi was doing a bad job in representing her California area.
"To talk about the fiasco, have you ever seen anything happening to the Nancy Pelosi area in San Francisco, it´s not like it used to be, something must be done before it´s too late," he wrote.
