Ben Carson blasts Baltimore church's 'animosity' for forcing him to change venue

close

Video

Ben Carson visits Baltimore amid uproar over Trump's remarks about the city

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson visits Baltimore to defend President Trump's remarks about the city's conditions.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson blasted a Baltimore church for making him move to a new venue Wednesday for his press conference defending President Trump.

Carson wanted to promote Trump’s initiatives when he was suddenly kicked off a vacant lot owned by the Morning Star Baptist Church of Christ.

“We just have all this animosity all the time,” Carson told reporters, according to the Baltimore Sun, which first reported on the story. “For instance, you guys know, you were set up on this property, and right here is this church that said: ‘Get off our property.’ You know, a church? When we’re talking about helping the people. I mean, this is the level to which we have sunken as a society.”

CARSON TELLS CRITICS ACCUSING TRUMP OF RACISM TO 'ACT LIKE ADULTS'

Carson showed up in Baltimore a week after Trump’s Twitter feud with Rep. Elijah Cummings, who represents the city. The president was accused of race-baiting after he called Baltimore a "rat and rodent infested mess." (Trump has defended his comments, while pointing to old video showing Cummings once using similar language to describe the community.)

Carson ended up having to move the press conference to an adjacent alley.

BEN CARSON VISITS BALTIMORE AMID UPROAR OVER TRUMP'S TWEETS

Church members said it was nothing personal, claiming they had been having trouble with the site -- which is vacant but will be turned into a parking lot -- and they had no idea a press conference was planned there until they saw people starting to gather.

“I didn’t know it was Secretary Carson,” church member Gregory Evans told the Sun. “I just know there were a bunch of people over there that were taking over our site. And we said, ‘Why are they here?’ They’ve not even asked for permission to be here.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Carson, the highest-ranking African American in the Trump administration, is a neurosurgeon who practiced at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. At the press conference, he defended Trump’s controversial comments about the Maryland city amid an uproar of criticism from leaders in the state.