The Baltimore Sun denounced President Trump Saturday for his Twitter attacks on Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and the majority-black Baltimore-area district he represents — which Trump called a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess."

If there are problems here, rodents included, they are as much his responsibility as anyone’s, perhaps more because he holds the most powerful office in the land."

— Baltimore Sun editorial board

The big picture: In an article titled "Better to have a few rats than to be one," the editorial board of the Maryland paper, one of the oldest newspapers in the U.S., wrote that it's heartening to see public figures such as "native daughter" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Baltimore Mayor Bernard "Jack" Young defend the city.

The board said it wished to remind Trump that "the White House has far more power to effect change in this city, for good or ill, than any single member of Congress" —including Cummings. It left its most scathing rebuke toward the end of the article.

"[W]e would tell the most dishonest man to ever occupy the Oval Office, the mocker of war heroes, the gleeful grabber of women’s private parts, the serial bankrupter of businesses, the useful idiot of Vladimir Putin and the guy who insisted there are 'good people' among murderous neo-Nazis that he’s still not fooling most Americans into believing he’s even slightly competent in his current post."

The other side: Trump doubled down on his Twitter assault on Cummings, retweeting Kimberly Klacik, of Baltimore County Republican Central Committee, who tweeted a video she said was filmed inside Cummings' district.

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