Christie on Trump: Angry tweeting at Cummings won’t fix anything

Gov. Chris Christie said that he understands President Donald Trump may have an issue with Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings — but said tweeting won't solve the problem.

Trump ignited a tweet storm on Saturday when he accused Cummings of being a "brutal bully" because  of his "shouting and screaming" at patrol agents at the United State southern border. He said the border is "clean, efficient and well run, just very crowded."

"Cumming(s) 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," the president tweeted.

Trump's comments drew criticism and were called racist in many responses defending Cummings.

Chris Christie said on ABC's This Week that he was in agreement with Republican Maryland governor Larry Hogan that “angry rhetoric doesn’t solve problems."

"The president here has some beefs with Congressman Cummings, I understand that. But I don’t think that’s the way to fix them," the former governor and friend of the President said.

Trump expanded his attacks Monday to include a prominent Cummings defender, the Rev. Al Sharpton, who was traveling to Baltimore to hold a press conference in condemnation of the president.

"Al is a con man, a troublemaker, always looking for a score," Trump tweeted ahead of the press conference, adding that the civil rights activist and MSNBC host "Hates Whites & Cops!"

Sharpton fired back at the president in a tweet of his own, saying, "I do make trouble for bigots."

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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