Donald Trump's address to a black church in Flint, Michigan, was cut short by the church's pastor when he launched into a tirade about Hillary Clinton. The incident came amid criticism from Mayor Karen Weaver that the visit is more than a "photo op" as the city continues to deal with its water contamination crisis.

During a speech at the historically-black Bethel United Methodist Church, Mr Trump began to tear into Hillary Clinton in his usual stump speech after a brief tour of the Flint water plant at the centre of the lead contamination controversy.

"Hillary failed on the economy. Just like she's failed on foreign police," he said. "Everything she touched didn't work out. Nothing. Now Hillary Clinton—"

"Mr Trump I invited you here to thank us for what we've done in Flint, not give a political speech," Rev Faith Green-Timmons interjected.Mayor Weaver rebuked the visit earlier in the day, suggesting it was nothing more than a stunt. She said he never contacted her about the visit and the campaign never offered any help.

The trip comes amid Mr Trump’s ongoing effort to court the black vote — often criticised as a bid to appeal to moderate white conservatives — but Ms Weaver sounded a sceptical about the candidate’s intentions of visiting Flint, a predominantly low-income, black community.

“Flint is focused on fixing the problems caused by lead contamination of our drinking water, not photo ops,” she said, adding that water plant employees “cannot afford the disruption of a last-minute visit.”

Ms Weaver said she would not be in Flint during Mr Trump’s visit as she was in currently in Washington, DC, urging Congress to allocate funding to help fix the water crisis, the Detroit Free Press reported.

State Representative Sheldon Neeley criticised the visit, calling it “an opportunity to exploit the Flint community at-large”.

USA 'Has Your Back' - Obama to People of Flint

“I’ll be very interested to see if indeed he’s going to say anything about the Republican mess that caused the human health crisis in Flint,” he added. “If not, he’s being disingenuous by even visiting my town.”

Several dozens of protesters assembled outside of the plant to rebuke the campaign, echoing Ms Weaver's accusations that Mr Trump was only on a public relations trip.

In pictures: Flint water crisis Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Flint water crisis In pictures: Flint water crisis Anthony Fordham picks up bottled water from the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan to deliver to a school after elevated lead levels were found in the city's water in Flint Reuters In pictures: Flint water crisis Michigan National Guard Staff Sergeant William Phillips (L) assists a Flint resident with bottled water at a fire station in Flint Reuters In pictures: Flint water crisis Flint residents Arthur Woodson, left, and Tony Palladino Jr. protest the arrival of Flint native and filmmaker Michael Moore as Moore accuses Gov.Rick Snyder of poisoning Flint water during a rally outside of city hall in Flint AP In pictures: Flint water crisis Flint residents pick up bottled water and water filters at a fire station in Flint. Michigan National Guard members were set to arrive in Flint to join door-to-door efforts to distribute bottled water and other supplies to residents coping with the city's crisis over lead-contaminated drinking water Reuters In pictures: Flint water crisis Soldiers from the Michigan Army National Guard Flint prepare to give Flint residents bottled water at a fire station in Flint Getty Images In pictures: Flint water crisis Justin Roberson (L), age 6, of Flint, Michigan and Mychal Adams, age 1, of Flint wait on a stack of bottled water at a rally where the Rev. Jesse Jackson was speaking about about the water crises at the Heavenly Host Baptist Church in Flint Getty Images In pictures: Flint water crisis A man sits next to a stack of bottled water at the Heavenly Host Baptist Church in Flint 2016 Getty Images In pictures: Flint water crisis The top of a water tower is seen at the Flint Water Plant. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Michigan and ordered federal aid to be used to help state and local response efforts to an area affected by contaminated water Reuters In pictures: Flint water crisis Rosie Wright, center, rallies with the crowd over Flint's water crisis in Ann Arbor, Michigan AP In pictures: Flint water crisis Rick Catherman participates in a rally around Flint's water crisis in Ann Arbor, Michigan AP

“I'm here to call on Donald Trump to stop using the Flint water crisis as a prop for his campaign. Not once since the beginning of his campaign has Trump addressed the crisis, despite ample opportunity,” Desiree Duell, a Flint mother and activist with the group Flint Rising, told the Free Press.

She continued: “We have been denied clean, safe water for more than two years and we want Donald Trump to know that we need a real solution to this crisis, not empty rhetoric or more of the same 'run government like a business' mentality that led to this crisis in the first place.”

The Flint water crisis began in April 2014 after a state-appointed emergency manager diverted the city’s water supply to draw from the Detroit Water and Sewerage System to the Flint River. The new water supplier did not properly treat the water from the new source, which was much more corrosive than the previous supply. This led to the deterioration of the pipes which contaminated the water supply with lead.

Some 8,000 children were among the many Flint residents who suffered from lead poisoning.