WASHINGTON, July 15, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US President Donald Trump took aim at
progressive Democratic congresswomen Sunday, telling them to “go back” where
they came from in remarks that sparked yet another firestorm over his views
on race and immigration.
Trump — whose comments were branded “racist” and “xenophobic” by
Democratic presidential candidates and senior legislators — last year
reportedly referred to countries in Africa as “shithole” nations, and has
spoken of an “invasion” of migrants.
He was also a leading proponent of the “birther” conspiracy theory that
Barack Obama was not born on US soil and therefore could not legally be
president.
On Sunday, Trump referred on Twitter to “‘Progressive’ Democrat
Congresswomen” in remarks that appeared to be aimed at a group of outspoken
relatively young, liberal women of color, all first-time members of the House
of Representatives.
These include Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of
Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
They “originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and
total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world,”
Trump tweeted.
He accused the women of “viciously telling the people of the United States,
the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be
run.”
“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,”
Trump wrote.
– ‘What racism looks like’ –
Trump did not identify the targets of his comments by name.
But in a tweet later in the day, he said they “hate Israel with a true and
unbridled passion,” indicating he may have been referring to Omar and Tlaib,
who have recently been embroiled in controversies related to the Jewish
state.
Tlaib, who was born in Detroit, is the first American of Palestinian
descent elected to Congress, while Omar, who fled war-torn Somalia as a child
and came to the United States as a refugee, is the first black Muslim woman
in Congress.
Ocasio-Cortez, who was born in New York, is of Puerto Rican ancestry, and
Pressley, who was born in Cincinnati, is the first African American elected
to Congress from Massachusetts.
The four hit back at Trump on his favored social media site. “I am fighting
corruption in OUR country. I do it every day when I hold your admin
accountable as a U.S. Congresswoman,” Tlaib tweeted.
“You are stoking white nationalism bc you are angry that people like us are
serving in Congress and fighting against your hate-filled agenda,” Omar wrote
on Twitter.
“THIS is what racism looks like. WE are what democracy looks like,”
Pressley wrote over a screenshot of Trump’s tweets, while Ocasio-Cortez
tweeted that Trump is “angry because you can’t conceive of an America that
includes us.”
– ‘Making America white again’ –
They were joined in their criticism of Trump by Democratic presidential
candidates as well as leaders from the party, which holds the majority in the
House of Representatives.
“Racism and xenophobia have no place in America,” tweeted former vice
president Joe Biden, the frontrunner for the 2020 Democratic nomination.
Senator Elizabeth Warren termed Trump’s comments “a racist and xenophobic
attack on Democratic congresswomen,” while Senator Kamala Harris tweeted:
“Let’s call the president’s racist attack exactly what it is: un-American.”
“That’s a racist tweet,” Assistant House Speaker Ben Ray Lujan, the
highest-ranking Latino member of Congress, said on “Fox News Sunday.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has warned her party to avoid the “menace” of
liberal policies pushed by Ocasio-Cortez and other progressives, if Democrats
hope to beat Trump in the 2020 election.
But on Sunday, she criticized Trump’s “attack.”
“I reject @realDonaldTrump’s xenophobic comments meant to divide our
nation,” she tweeted.
Trump’s remarks, she said, reaffirmed “his plan to ‘Make America Great
Again’ has always been about making America white again.”
Senior Republican lawmakers were notably silent on Trump’s comments, while
the president later doubled down on his remarks, attacking Democrats for
coming to the lawmakers’ defense.
“So sad to see the Democrats sticking up for people who speak so badly of
our Country,” Trump tweeted.