Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks said comments on CNN comparing his 5th Congressional District to impoverished areas of Maryland are “mean-spirited” examples of “fake news.”

On Tuesday, CNN’s John Berman referenced Brooks and District 5 in questions to Republican Party Chair Ronna McDaniel about President Trump’s sparring with Rep. Elijah Cummings about conditions in Baltimore, Maryland.

Berman said:

“Democrats aren't the only members of congress who represent districts of distress. Mo Brooks who represents Alabama five, right, they have a median household income which is less than Maryland seven where Elijah Cummings represents, they have a median home value that is less, fewer people with bachelor degrees and the poverty level is a little bit less than Maryland 7 but about in the ballpark. my question to you is this, so Mo Brooks spends a lot of his time defending the president, why should he do that by your logic and not go home and deal with the issues in your district?

Brooks fired back, saying “fake news CNN and John Berman get an “F” for failing to do their homework.:

“If they had, they would know the Tennessee Valley is experiencing what may very well be the best economic boom in our prosperous history. Frankly, John Berman’s attack on the Tennessee Valley is mean spirited and just plain dumb,” Brooks said.

CNN’s data, Brooks pointed out, does not adjust for the roughly 25 percent higher cost of living in Baltimore versus the Tennessee Valley.

Brooks said Baltimore’s unemployment rate is 5.1 percent, nearly double that of Huntsville, the largest city in the 5th Congressional District. Its violent crime rate is more than double Huntsville’s, while, when adjusted for cost of living, the district’s 2017 median household income is more than Maryland’s. Forty-one percent of Huntsville residents over age 25 have a bachelor’s degree of higher, compared to 30 percent in Baltimore, Brooks said.

“CNN’s hyper-partisan, anti-Trump motivation blinded them to the truth,” Brooks added.

Brooks said the Tennessee Valley isn’t “distressed” but rather “stressed” to find workers for the recent influx of jobs.

“We are ‘stressed’ by the need to build tens of thousands of new houses for the people who already have and will be soon moving here for jobs already created or in the works. We are ‘stressed’ by the need for more and wider roads and new schools to handle our economic boom and population explosion. If the rest of the country is as economically ‘distressed’ as the Tennessee Valley is, we should consider electing Donald Trump president for life!” Brooks added.

Citing rankings naming Huntsville as one of the best and most affordable places to live in the U.S., Brooks said he had a “simple” question for Berman and CNN: “Where would you rather live, in the Tennessee Valley or in the Baltimore city limits? I guarantee if you knew one twit about Huntsville, you would choose to the Tennessee Valley over Baltimore in an instant.”