Rats! Large rodent photobombs Baltimore TV live shot

A rat runs through a FOX45 Baltimore Reporter’s live shot during a story on President Trump’s tweet Baltimore is rat infestedhttps://t.co/s60inZ6TtK pic.twitter.com/R4LFxsPWeK

— FOX Baltimore (@FOXBaltimore) July 29, 2019

Just as a Baltimore TV reporter expressed the wish of local residents that President Trump come and see conditions for himself, a live camera captured a large rat scurrying from behind a trash bag.

Fox45 reporter Maxine Streicher was in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood discussing the outrage over Trump's tweets last weekend urging Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., to fix the "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess" in his district.

"Now, we spoke with many people today," Streicher told viewers, "who say the president should consider coming here to Baltimore, to the Sandtown area, and taking a look at things for himself."

Democrats and establishment media have cast Trump as racist for criticizing a black congressman and the conditions in a majority black city.

On Tuesday, however, Trump said that blacks in Baltimore have called the White House to say thank you.

"They are so happy, because I get the calls," Trump told reporters Tuesday before boarding Marine One to deliver a speech in Jamestown, Virginia. "They are happy as hell. The African-American community is so thankful at what I've been doing. They've been calling me and saying finally somebody is telling the truth.

“Those people are living in hell from Baltimore — they're largely African-American. They really appreciate what I’m doing and they’ve let me know it. They really appreciate it," Trump said.

He pointed out that unemployment for African-Americans under his administration has been the lowest in history.

"What I’ve done for African-Americans, I would say no president has done," Trump said.

"They are so happy about what I’ve been able to do in Baltimore and other Democrat corrupt cities. ... They are so thankful they called me and said finally somebody is telling the truth."

Trump said African-Americans "love the job I’m doing because I’m working for them — not the politicians."

A reporter asked Trump if he thought he was "hurting" himself by criticizing Cummings.

"I think I'm helping myself because I’m pointing out the corruption in Baltimore," the president said.

"The White House and myself have received more phone calls from the people of Baltimore and other cities thanking me."

In a tweet Tuesday, Trump said Baltimore is "the worst in the United States" on crime and the economy.

"Billions of dollars have been pumped in over the years, but to no avail," he wrote. "The money was stolen or wasted. Ask Elijah Cummings where it went. He should investigate himself with his Oversight Committee!"

A regional director for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Lynne Patton, told Fox News on Tuesday that some $16 billion in federal funding was pumped into Cummings' district in 2018.