Trump says four Democratic congresswomen hate the US and are free to leave

President Donald Trump on Monday escalated attacks on four Democratic congresswomen of colour, saying they hated the United States and were free to leave, and then broadened his criticism to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, accusing her of making racist comments.

>> Eileen Sullivan and Julie Hirschfeld DavisThe New York Times
Published : 15 July 2019, 08:13 PM
Updated : 15 July 2019, 08:13 PM

“They’re free to leave if they want. If they want to leave, that’s fine. If they want to stay, that’s fine,” Trump said Monday, referring to Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna S Pressley of Massachusetts. On Sunday, he said they should “go back” to the countries they came from.

FILE -- Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), left, with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), speaks during a news conference outside the House of Representatives in Washington, June 12, 2019. President Donald Trump weighed in via Twitter on the friction between a group of four freshman Democratic congresswomen, including Omar, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on July 14 by suggesting that the congresswomen — none of whom are white — should “go back and help fix” the countries they came from. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/The New York Times)

Trump’s new front against Pelosi, D-Calif., came after she announced the House would move to officially reject the president’s xenophobic tweets about members of Congress just hours after he had warned Democrats against uniting “around the foul language & racist hatred spewed” from the American women and demanded an apology from them.

Pelosi criticised the president Sunday for his remarks and said his slogan, “‘Make America Great Again,’ has always been about making America white again.”

Trump, in turn, accused her of racist remarks. “So Speaker Pelosi said, ‘Make America white again.’ That’s a very racist — that’s a very racist statement. I’m surprised she’d say that,” Trump said at an event celebrating American manufacturing at the White House.

President Donald Trump speaks during an event at a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin in Milwaukee, July 12, 2019. Trump weighed in via Twitter on the friction between a group of four freshman Democratic congresswomen and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on July 14 by suggesting that the congresswomen — none of whom are white — should “go back and help fix” the countries they came from. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times)

Early Monday, few Republican lawmakers had responded to Trump’s comments, widely seen as racist. By midday, however, that had changed. Rep Michael R Turner, R-Ohio, said Trump’s comments Sunday were “racist” and the president should apologise. And Rep Will Hurd, R-Texas, condemned the president’s remarks, calling them “racist, and xenophobic.”

Hurd also said the president’s narrative was politically damaging because it is uniting Democrats at a time when the party is experiencing a “civil war.”

Pelosi’s pledge to formally reject Trump’s comments appeared to make his point.

“Let me be clear, our caucus will continue to forcefully respond to these disgusting attacks,” Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues. “The House cannot allow the president’s characterization of immigrants to our country to stand. Our Republican colleagues must join us in condemning the president’s xenophobic tweets.”

Ocasio-Cortez on Monday wrote on Twitter that Trump’s language was common among white supremacists.

“Trump feels comfortable leading the GOP into outright racism, and that should concern all Americans,” she wrote.

© 2019 New York Times News Service