Trump tells progressive congresswomen to ‘ go back’ to their ‘ countries,’ sparking Dem fury,

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Sunday that four minority, liberal congresswomen who have been critical of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” prompting other Democrats — including Ms. Pelosi — to leap to their defense.

Ms. Pelosi, D- Calif., denounced Mr. Trump’s tweets as “xenophobic comments meant to divide our nation,” while the four congresswomen promised to continue fighting Mr. Trump’s agenda and accused him of trying to appeal to white nationalists.

Mr. Trump’s remark swiftly united a House Democratic caucus that had been torn apart in recent days by infighting between Ms. Pelosi and the four freshman women of color — Democratic Reps. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. It also comes after Mr. Trump announced that U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were preparing to round up migrant families that have received deportation orders across the country.

Mr. Trump kicked off the furor with a string of tweets Sunday morning.

“So interesting to see ‘ Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world ( if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run,” Mr. Trump tweeted.

Ms. Pressley was born in Cincinnati, Ms. Tlaib was born in Detroit and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was born in New York — about 20 miles from where Mr. Trump was born. Ms. Omar was born in Mogadishu, Somalia; her family fled the country amid civil war when she was a child, and she became a U. S. citizen as a teenager. All four women won election to Congress in 2018.

“Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” Mr. Trump continued in the tweets. “Then come back and show us how it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!”

Mr. Trump’s comments prompted a sharp response from Ms. Pelosi, who described them as racist and divisive.

“When @ realDonaldTrump tells four American Congresswomen to go back to their countries, he reaffirms his plan to ‘ Make America Great Again’ has always been about making America white again,” she said in a tweet.

Within a few hours Sunday, Democratic lawmakers were united in defending their colleagues against Mr. Trump’s attack.

“I’ve been trying to figure out how to bring everybody together — I think the president just did that for us,” Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said.