3 Texas Republicans rebuke Trump tweets
Three Texas Republicans in Congress have joined Democrats in condemning President Donald Trump for a series of tweets in which he said four Democratic congresswomen of color should “go back” to their own countries.
While most GOP officials have remained largely silent about the matter, U.S. Reps. Chip Roy of Austin, Will Hurd of San Antonio and Pete Olson of Sugar Land broke ranks to criticize Trump’s remarks, which were widely seen as racist.
Roy was among the first congressional Republicans to break the silence when he tweeted Sunday that “POTUS was wrong to say any American citizen, whether in Congress or not, has any ‘home’ besides the U.S.”
At the same time, Roy doubled down on his belief that “non-citizens who abuse our immigration laws should be sent home immediately,” and added elected officials who “refuse to defend America should be sent home” in the upcoming elections.
Monday, Hurd called Trump’s tweets “racist and xenophobic.”
“It’s also behavior that’s unbecoming of the leader of the free world,” Hurd told CNN. “He should be talking about things that unite, not divide us.”
Olson said the comments do not reflect the values of his constituents in Texas’ 22nd Congressional District, where one-quarter of the residents are foreign-born — the second-highest percentage in the state. Olson narrowly won a sixth term last year; his challenger, Sri Preston Kulkarni, is seeking a rematch in 2020.
“We are proud to be the most diverse Congressional district in America,” Olson said in a tweet Monday. “I urge our president immediately disavow his comments.”
Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who is running for reelection, called the president’s remarks “a mistake.”
Trump’s Sunday Twitter rant was directed at Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rashida Tlaib, DMich., and Ayanna S. Pressley, DMass. All of the women are American citizens, and three were born in the U.S.
Like Trump, Ocasio-Cortez was born in New York City. Tlaib was born in Detroit, and Pressley was born in Cincinnati. Omar was born in Somalia, but she became a naturalized citizen after immigrating to the United States at age 12.
Democrats nationwide immediately began defending the congresswomen and attacking Trump. Monday, House Democrats were planning a resolution denouncing Trump’s “racist comments,” announced Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted Trump’s remarks reaffirmed “his plan to ‘Make America Great Again’ has always been about making America white again.’ ”
Meanwhile, Texas’ top GOP leaders stayed quiet Monday. The Texas Democratic Party called out Cornyn, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick “for not standing up to racism.”
“Time after time, Texas Republicans stay silent on racist attacks,” said Abhi Rahman, communications director of the Texas Democratic Party, in a statement. “We think the answer is pretty simple: don’t be a racist. There is no room for bigotry in our great nation.”