“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.
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.
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