'Stop excusing him': Elijah Cummings derails CNN interview for 'ridiculous' Trump double standard

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) drew a line with CNN hosts Alisyn Camerota and Chris Cuomo on Thursday for holding Donald Trump to a "different standard" than other presidential candidates.

Asked what Hillary Clinton would do about the tension between police black communities and police, Cummings argued that she would strike a balance between supporting law enforcement and holding them accountable.

"What Donald Trump has done has tried to divide us," he explained. "He puts the police in one corner, the community in another corner."

"You all spend a lot of time talking about Donald Trump," Cummings continued. "I see Donald Trump as someone who is about the business of destruction and distraction. Destruction with regard to people who run against him and their reputations; distractions from the things that affect people on a day to day basis: health care, education, things of that nature."

CNN's Cuomo countered that Democrats were "bashing" Trump instead of promoting Clinton's policies.

"Especially when it comes to this latest wrinkle, this gift that you guys say he gave you about asking Russians to hack Hillary Clinton's emails to release them," the CNN host charged. "You guys are calling it treason. He went on TV this morning and said, 'I was being sarcastic. This is the Democrats trying to frame me as a bad guy.'"

"We have to stop excusing him when he says these nasty things," Cummings interrupted. "We really do. Because words do matter."

"But is it treason?" Cuomo pressed.

"I'll let the FBI and others decide that," the Maryland Democrat remarked. "My point is -- and by the way, no matter what it is, it should not have been said. If I did that, I'd be out of office or in jail."

"And he should not be held to some different standard," Cummings added. "I don't know how we get this through [to the media]. We're talking about the president of the United States of America going around saying these kind of things. That's ridiculous."

Watch the video below from CNN's New Day, broadcast July 28, 2016.