Bernie Sanders calls Trump 'racist' for Baltimore comments — but just a few years ago he likened Baltimore to a 'Third World country'

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) condemned President Donald Trump on Saturday for criticizing the well-documented crime, poverty, drug abuse, and political corruption that plagues Baltimore.

"Here's what's really going on: @RepCummings has been busy revealing the failures of the Trump administration and exposing the greed of Trump's friends in the pharmaceutical industry, and our racist president doesn't like it," Sanders said.

Here's what's really going on: @RepCummings has been busy revealing the failures of the Trump administration and exposing the greed of Trump's friends in the pharmaceutical industry, and our racist president doesn't like it. https://t.co/tlfy2M4mzL https://t.co/6s4ZU6gvlW
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 27, 2019

But just a few years ago, while campaigning for president, Sanders made observations about Baltimore that mirror what Trump said about the so-called "Charm City" on Saturday.

While canvasing a West Baltimore neighborhood in Dec. 2015, Sanders compared the conditions to that of a Third World country.

"Anyone who took the walk that we took around this neighborhood would not think you're in a wealthy nation. You would think that you were in a Third World country," Sanders said, according to the Baltimore Sun.

"[T]oday what we're talking about is a community in which half of the people don't have jobs," he later told reporters during his trip. "We're talking about a community in which there are hundreds of buildings that are uninhabitable."

Then, in 2016, Sanders used social media to again criticize Baltimore, noting how the city's extreme poverty contributes to decreased lifespans.

Despite receiving blowback for Saturday's comments, Trump doubled down on Sunday, writing on Twitter that "Congressman Elijah Cummings has done a very poor job for his district and the City of Baltimore."