Trump says 'I'm the least racist person in the world,' claims Baltimore African Americans are thanking him for highlighting city's condition

President Donald Trump, on Tuesday, insisted that he is "the least racist person there is" and that African American residents of Baltimore had been calling the White House to thank him for bringing the city's living conditions to everyone's attention.

Trump's statement came days after he slammed Baltimore and Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings and argued that his district was "disgusting" and a "rat and rodent-infested mess." The president was then criticized for making racist remarks about a lawmaker of color, similar to the one last week when he asked four congresswomen of color to go "back to their crime-infested countries."

Trump, in his latest statement, claimed that the African American residents living in the city called him to thank him for getting involved in the issue as he claimed that city is "filthy dirty" and "so horrible" because corrupt politicians have been mishandling the taxpayers' money.

“I’ve received more phone calls than I think on any other subject of people from Baltimore and other cities corruptly run by Democrats, thanking me for getting involved,” Trump told reporters outside the White House.

“Those people are living in hell in Baltimore. They’re largely African-American,” Trump said. “You have a large African-American population, and they really appreciate what I’m doing. And they’ve let me know it. They really appreciate it," Politico reported.

“People have called from Baltimore, thanking me so much. There's all that money that’s been spent — over 20 years has been stolen and wasted by people like Elijah Cummings," Trump claimed.

"The African-American people have been calling the White House. They have never been so happy as what a president has done,” he said, adding: “They're so happy that I pointed out the corrupt politics of Baltimore. It's filthy-dirty, it's so horrible, and they are happy as hell."

The president also claimed that the city's money has been "stolen  and wasted by people like Elijah Cummings" and declared that his assault on the black Democratic congressman was not linked to the color of his skin: "I am the least racist person there is anywhere in the world."

The president instead said that MSNBC host and activist Al Sharpton is the one who is racist. Sharpton had claimed that Trump has a "particular venom" for persons of color. 

"Now he's a racist. He's a racist!" the president told reporters on the South Lawn while referring to Sharpton.