‘Go back’ and forth
A day after his disparaging tweets, the president doubles down against congressional critics known as ‘The Squad’
President Donald Trump said Monday that the minority Democratic congresswomen he said should “go back” to other countries are the ones who should apologize.
On Sunday, Trump tweeted of four minority female House members: “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done” — this even though three of the four targets were born in the United States.
On Monday, Trump denied that the tweets were racist. After a day of nearsilence, a rising number of Republicans were joining Democrats in speaking out against the comments.
The main targets of Trump are four freshmen lawmakers who call themselves “The Squad.” They have taken progressive stands against the president and even their party leader, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The four House members are Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of NewYork and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
WASHINGTON – As House Democrats called for a resolution condemning him for racism, President Donald Trump said Monday that the minority Democratic congresswomen he said should “go back” to other countries are the ones who should apologize.
Trump also denied his comments were racist, telling reporters at the White House that “if somebody has a problem with our country, if somebody doesn’t want to be in our country, they should leave” – although most of the Democratic lawmakers he attacked were born in the United States.
Earlier in the morning, Trump tweeted: “When will the Radical Left Congresswomen apologize to our Country, the people of Israel and even to the Office of the President, for the foul language they have used, and the terrible things they have said.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DCalif., meanwhile, called on lawmakers to pass a resolution condemning Trump’s remarks.
“The House cannot allow the president’s characterization of immigrants to our country to stand,” Pelosi said. “Our Republican colleagues must join us in condemning the president’s xenophobic tweets.”
On Sunday, Trump tweeted of four minority female House members: “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done” – this even though three of the four targets were born in the United States.
Trump’s tweets were directed at four Muslim, Hispanic and black House freshmen members known as “the Squad”: Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
The former three were born in the United States; Omar came to the United States as a refugee from Somalia before she was a teenager.
On Monday afternoon, the lawmakers responded to Trump’s comments in a news conference on Capitol Hill. Pressley said the president’s recent comments were just a “disruptive distraction” from a “callous, chaotic and corrupt” administration.
“I encourage the American people and all of us in this room and beyond to not take the bait,” Pressley added.
Omar accused Trump of pursuing a “white nationalist” agenda. Ocasio-Cortez reminded children across the nation that “this country belongs to you,” despite Trump’s comments, and Tlaib renewed her calls for Trump to be impeached.
Asked if he was concerned about using the language of white nationalists, Trump replied that “it doesn’t concern me because many people agree with me. All I’m saying is that if they want to leave, they can leave. It doesn’t say leave forever.” He accused the congresswomen of “hating the United States and Israel.”