BALTIMORE — Early Saturday morning, President Donald Trump called U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings a "brutal bully" and also tweeted that his district is "considered the Worst in the USA."
Over the past few days, the tweets have caused attention and placed a spotlight on Charm City, causing local leaders and politicians to comment on the tweets.
While the topic of Baltimore may be in the national crosshairs, the target, Aaron Maybin says, should be repairing the "core" of the city as well as its reputation.
"I'm motivated by the fact that I'm raising a son in the same city that I'm burying more of my friends than I am attending college graduations and weddings," said Maybin.
The Baltimore native says outrage over the President's portayal of the city is misguided and should be focused on the struggles impacting some of Baltimore's neighborhoods.
"We've known about the violence, we've known about the drug abuse, we've known about the lack of investment, we've known about the lack of recreational activities for our youth," Maybin said.
The president tweeted again about Baltimore saying, 'When the leaders of Baltimore want to see the city rise again, I am in a very beautiful oval shaped office waiting for your call.'
....even to new heights of success and glory, but not with King Elijah and that crew. When the leaders of Baltimore want to see the City rise again, I am in a very beautiful oval shaped office waiting for your call!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2019
"There are certain places in the city, no denying that stuff does go on in Baltimore, but there's really great things here that you can overlook and actually see the beauty in Baltimore."
It's that sentiment Maybin says is enough to build off of to create change in the city.
"We're losing generation of people who could actually be a part of the change that this city needs," Maybin said. "But we need to start addressing these issues at their root causes and not just waiting around for somebody in politics to come save us."
