Despite polls, Trump says black people like his Baltimore remarks

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is claiming a groundswell of African American support in response to his comments denigrating Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings and the congressman’s majority-black Baltimore district, despite polling showing consistently negative numbers.

Speaking to reporters as he left the White House on Tuesday, Trump claimed the building had been flooded with thousands of letters, emails and phone calls after his criticism of Baltimore thanking him for “getting involved” and exposing corruption.

“They really appreciate what I’m doing, and they’ve let me know it,” said the Republican president. The White House did not immediately provide evidence backing up Trump’s claims.

Trump’s comments came in response to fierce backlash against his earlier remarks lashing out at Cummings, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, and calling his district a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.”

But Trump on Tuesday nonetheless declared himself “the least racist person” in the world, despite his recent comments and racist tweets. And he said “African American people love the job” he’s doing, despite the fact that numerous polls have shown African Americans are overwhelmingly negative in their assessments of his performance.

Approval among black Americans has hovered around 10% over the course of Trump’s presidency, according to Gallup polling, with 8% approving in June. And a new Quinnipiac University poll out Tuesday found that 80% of registered African American voters think Trump is racist.