Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley says there is nothing “tough” about Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBubba Wallace to be driver of Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin NASCAR team Graham: GOP will confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election Southwest Airlines, unions call for six-month extension of government aid MORE, calling the businessman’s rhetoric on immigration “hate-filled.”

“Look, if Donald Trump is such a big, tough guy, why is it that he takes on — why is it that he takes on minimum wage workers?” O’Malley, a 2016 Democratic contender, said on MSNBC’s "The Rundown with José Díaz-Balart" on Tuesday.

“I don’t find anything tough about Donald Trump at all."

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His comments came days after Trump called O’Malley a “disgusting little weak, pathetic baby” for apologizing to Black Lives Matter who disrupted one of his rallies.

O'Malley had responded to chants of "black lives matter" by saying that "all lives matter." He later apologized to the activists, saying he "meant no disrespect."

On Tuesday, O’Malley repeatedly accused Trump, the GOP front-runner, of making illegal immigrants “scapegoats” for all of America’s problems.

“In fact, my parents taught us that this is not strength, this is weakness, when you attack and you scapegoat other people and talk less of other human beings, as he has done in such hate-filled ways," O'Malley said.

“It becomes a very volatile political climate within which charlatans and unscrupulous so-called leaders can scapegoat other people and say that the reason you’re not doing better is because of people not like us, people like them, the others."

He also said that if elected he would use executive action to enact comprehensive immigration reform.

“Look, if the current crop of Republicans in Congress were going to be persuaded by heavy-handed enforcement, by deportations without any discernment or further considerations on the impact of breaking up families, if Republicans were going to be persuaded by the numbers of women and children and families that we pen up behind barbed wire and chain link fence, then I think we would have reached that tipping point quite some time ago,” O’Malley said.