“The View” co-host Joy Behar declared Monday that it’s “outrageous and stupid” to call a black person racist as President Trump did over the weekend with Democratic Rep. Elijah E. Cummings.

“Elijah is the black man,” Ms. Behar said on the show, according to a clip published by the Washington Examiner. “He’s calling the black man the racist. I mean, I don’t think people understand that particularly. It’s outrageous and stupid to call a black person a racist.”

Ms. Behar’s comments were referring to Mr. Trump’s weekend tweetstorm attacking “racist” Mr. Cummings and the city of Baltimore after the congressman blasted the conditions of U.S. migrant detention facilities. Mr. Trump responded on Twitter by claiming that Mr. Cummings’ 7th District is “a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess” that’s “FAR WORSE and more dangerous” than the situation at the border.

The president’s comments were blasted by Democrats as racist.

On Tuesday, Ms. Behar sought to clarify her comments and criticized Fox News and conservative media for not understanding the difference between racism and bigotry.

“When I talk about racism, I talk about a system of racism in this country that affects housing, that affects politics, that affects education — it’s a system of racism,” the co-host said. “And if you are a minority in this country, you are more a victim of racism, so it’s hard to be a racist when you are a victim of racism.

“That’s my point,” she said, before adding, “black people can be bigoted like anybody else.”

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