Trump ‘would wet himself’ if he visited Baltimore district he attacked, creator of The Wire says

One of Baltimore’s most famous sons has hit back at Donald Trump after the US president attacked House rep Elijah Cummings.

David Simon, creator of hit crime drama TV series The Wire, responded after the president called Mr Cummings a “brutal bully” and claimed the Democrat congressman’s Baltimore district was a “rat and rodent infested mess”.

Mr Trump’s remarks referenced Mr Cummings’ negative remarks at an immigration hearing on 18 July. In a heated exchange, Mr Cummings shouted at acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan over the squalid conditions in facilities used to detain migrants, including unaccompanied children, at the southern border.

“What does that mean, when a child is sitting in their own faeces, can’t take a shower!” Mr Cummings asked. “Come on man, what’s that about?”

Mr Trump’s attack on Mr Cummings also followed the Democrat’s move to subpoena new White House records on Thursday, and a Saturday morning segment on Fox & Friends contrasting Mr Cummings’ concern for migrants at the border with conditions in his own district.

“Rep, Elijah Cummings has been a brutal bully, shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border, when actually his Baltimore district is FAR WORSE and more dangerous. His district is considered the Worst in the USA,” Trump tweeted.

“As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded. Cumming [sic] District is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess. If he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place,” the president continued.

He added: “Why is so much money sent to the Elijah Cummings district when it is considered the worst run and most dangerous anywhere in the United States.

“No human being would want to live there. Where is all this money going? How much is stolen? Investigate this corrupt mess immediately!”

After Mr Trump’s tweets sparked outrage online, a Twitter campaign with the hashtag #WEAREBALTIMORE went viral.

Mr Simon, a former journalist for the Baltimore Sun and whose best-known show was set in his hometown, was among those to respond.

“If this empty-suit, race-hating fraud had to actually visit West Baltimore for five minutes and meet any of the American citizens who endure there, he’d wet himself,” he tweeted on Saturday.

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The writer tweeted a photograph of himself holding a guitar while sitting in front of his Baltimore home.

“The president, if he stepped out of his limo and found himself suddenly a racial minority, would wet himself on that fundamental alone,” wrote Mr Simon.

“The humanity of those he encountered could not matter to him; only their lack of whiteness and his discomfort. So he won’t come.”

Mr Cummings responded with his own tweets soon after, writing: “Mr President, I go home to my district daily. Each morning, I wake up, and I go and fight for my neighbours.”