4 freshman congresswomen accused of being ‘very Racist’

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump escalated his attacks Monday on a group of four minority congresswomen, calling them “very Racist” and “not very smart.”

Trump’s assessment came in a tweet as his motorcade traveled from the White House to the Supreme Court to pay his respects to the late Justice John Paul Stevens, who died last week at age 99 and was lying in repose.

It was the latest in a string of attacks directed at the four lawmakers nicknamed ‘the Squad’ since a week ago Sunday, when Trump said in a tweet that they should “go back” to the “totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” Only one of the four, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-minn., was born outside the United States, and she became a U.S. citizen in 2000.

Trump has often tried to turn the tables on his political opponents, accusing them of the very shortcomings for which they criticize him.

“The ‘Squad’ is a very Racist group of troublemakers who are young, inexperienced, and not very smart,” Trump wrote. “They are pulling the once great Democrat Party far left, and were against humanitarian aid at the Border . . . And are now against ICE and Homeland Security. So bad for our Country!”

Over the past week, Trump has repeatedly defended his words directed at the four women — Reps. Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan — despite widespread criticism that his remarks were racist and divisive.

Trump went on the offensive against the four lawmakers again Monday during a meeting in the Oval Office with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Asked Monday about Trump’s tweet calling the four lawmakers “racist,” White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told reporters: “Well, they certainly are young and inexperienced. That doesn’t stop all of you from elevating them into the stratosphere and superstardom.”