Video: CNN Anchor Victor Blackwell Emotionally Defends His Hometown from Trump

CNN Anchor Victor Blackwell had an emotional response to President Donald Trump’s tweets attacking the district in Baltimore that he grew up in.

On Saturday, Trump threw another Twitter temper tantrum. One of the people that he went after wasDemocratic Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Black man who oversees the same district that Blackwell grew up in.

Trump has been attacking Cummings regularly. Cummings has led investigations into his administration as chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

When Blackwell was on air on Saturday, he teared up as he addressed Trump’s tweets.

Democratic Rep. Elijah E. Cummings’s district in Baltimore “is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess,” the president had tweeted. “No human being would want to live there.”

“You know who did [live there], Mr. President?” Blackwell said. “I did. From the day I was brought home from the hospital to the day I left for college. And a lot of people I care about still do.”

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“Donald Trump has tweeted more than 43,000 times,” Blackwell said. “He’s insulted thousands of people, many different types of people. But when he tweets about infestation, it’s about black and brown people,” Blackwell said.

According to The Washington Post, Trump has used “infested” to also describe the four Democratic congresswomen targeted earlier this month — Reps. Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and Trump has used “infested” to criticize Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who is black and a leader in the civil rights movement.

Lewis should spend time fixing the “crime infested inner-cities of the U.S.” instead of complaining about election results, Trump tweeted in January 2017.

Trump has also used “infested” in connection with people of color and immigrants.

To finish off his emotional moment, Blackwell said: “People get up and go to work there. They care for their families there. They love their children who pledge allegiance to the flag just like people who live in districts of congressmen who support you, sir. They are Americans, too.”

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