Trump: I’m no racist
President hits back in Twitter storm over ‘go home’ taunts
DONALD Trump last night branded his political opponents ‘filthy and hate-laced’ as his race row with four ethnic minority congresswomen escalated.
The US president insisted he does not have ‘a racist bone in my body’ while calls for his impeachment grew following his incendiary Twitter tirade.
Mr Trump was accused of racism after suggesting on Sunday that the four Democrats, three of whom were born in the US, should ‘go back’ to their ‘broken and crime-infested countries’.
He initially dismissed the accusations, telling reporters who asked whether his language was racist: ‘It doesn’t concern me.’
But with a government vote to condemn his tweets planned for today, Mr Trump renewed his attacks, writing on Twitter: ‘Those Tweets were NOT Racist. I don’t have a Racist bone in my body!
‘The so-called vote to be taken is a Democrat con game. Republicans should not show “weakness” and fall into their trap.
‘This should be a vote on the filthy language, statements and lies told by the Democrat Congresswomen, who I truly believe, based on their actions, hate our Country. Get a list of the HORRIBLE things they have said.’
He added: ‘Why isn’t the House voting to rebuke the filthy and hate-laced things they have said? Because they are the Radical Left, and the Democrats are afraid to take them on. Sad!’
His initial tweets were directed at representatives Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib, known as ‘the Squad’, who hit out at the ‘xenophobic, bigoted remarks’.
Ms Omar, a naturalised US citizen born in Somalia, accused him of ‘openly violating’ the country’s constitution and backed a call for his impeachment. Mr Trump’s remarks were rooted in the ‘agenda of white nationalists’, she said. Meanwhile pressure continued to pile on the president yesterday, with New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau joining the condemnation.
UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn also tweeted yesterday: ‘Telling four Congresswomen of colour to “go back” is racist.’