Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) joined the left-wing pile-on of President Trump over his criticism of Rep. Elijah Cummings’ (D-MD) Baltimore district and proclaimed that drawing attention to the flaws of the city is akin to “trashing America.”

Trump issued a sharp criticism of Cummings on Saturday, lambasting him for “screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border” when his Baltimore district is “far worse and more dangerous,” calling it a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.” He also called for an investigation into the funds funneled to Cummings’ 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…… — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2019

….As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded. Cumming 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 — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2019

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! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2019

Swalwell, the California lawmaker who ran a short-lived presidential campaign, joined the collective outrage Saturday evening, calling critics of Baltimore “haters” who are “trashing America” by pointing out the city’s well-documented flaws.

“Hey haters, Baltimore is in America. If you’re defending @realDonaldTrump by pointing out what you think are flaws of Baltimore, you are trashing America,” he tweeted.

“America is not just the places you like or look like you. It’s the places you’ve never seen & the people you’ve never met,” he added.

Hey haters, Baltimore is in America. If you’re defending @realDonaldTrump by pointing out what you think are flaws of Baltimore, you are trashing America. America is not just the places you like or look like you. It’s the places you’ve never seen & the people you’ve never met. — Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) July 28, 2019

However, the president’s critiques were not rooted in race or hatred of a specific area. The city’s issues have been well-documented for years.

According to FBI data, Baltimore had “the worst murder rate of all U.S. big cities in 2017.”

As Breitbart News reported:

Chicago gets a lot of press for its high murder rate and the city did, indeed, have far more murders than Baltimore in 2017. But Chicago is also far larger than Baltimore (about 3 million for Chicago versus 615,000 for Baltimore), so on a per capita basis, Maryland’s largest metropolis was far more dangerous for its citizens than even the blood-soaked Windy City. CBS Baltimore noted that Baltimore’s 342 homicides resulted in a homicide rate of 56 per 100,000 people of cities with more than 500,000 citizens.

Last year marked the “fourth year in a row where the dangerous city’s murder rate passed the 300-mark,” Breitbart News reported.

Additionally, Baltimore’s 2018 homicide rate was higher than Honduras and “nearly the same as in El Salvador,” with a rate of “51 per 100,000 residents,” Breitbart News added.

Gun violence continues to be a problem in the city, despite its gun control efforts. Baltimore Police Deputy Commissioner Danny Murphy was robbed at gunpoint last week.

Last month, Baltimore Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young spoke at an anti-gun violence event – “Bmore United” – and floated the idea of a public boxing ring to curb potentially violent feuds.

“Gun violence has been plaguing this city for the last ten years,” Young said. “The murder rate in this city and non-fatal shootings have increased. I’m not happy with it and neither should the citizens of Baltimore.”

“If they want to really settle them, we can have them down at the Civic Center, put a boxing ring up, let them go and box it out, those kind of things,” Young continued. “[May] the best man win, and the beef should be over.”

“Those are some kinds of things I’m thinking about, and hoping that we can get these people to put these guns down,” he added.

One Baltimore resident responded to Trump’s remarks in a now-viral video, praising the president’s assessment of Cummings.

“Trump is not racist … I’m glad he put [Cummings] on blast,” she said. “The rats just didn’t come. These houses just didn’t get torn down, they’ve been like this.”

She added that Cummings is “worried more about them [illegal aliens] than his own people.”

.@kimKBaltimore interviews Baltimore resident Michelle: Michelle on Trump's tweets: "What he said was definitely true. [Cummings] hasn't done anything for us" Michelle on Cummings: "He's worried more about [caring for illegal aliens at the border] than his own people" (1/2) pic.twitter.com/yGhKKB12DJ — Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) July 27, 2019