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Donald Trump defiant as lawmakers blast his 'racist' attacks on four congresswomen

File photo of Ilhan Omar(L), donald Trump (C), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (R). Photograph:( Reuters )

Reuters WASHINGTON Jul 16, 2019, 08.38 AM (IST)

President Donald Trump doubled down on his attacks against four minority US congresswomen on Monday and dismissed concerns that his comments were racist, prompting outrage from Democrats, who moved to condemn him in the House of Representatives.


Those remarks followed his Twitter messages on Sunday that said the four left-wing lawmakers, known in Congress as "the squad," should go back to "the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came."

All four of the first-term House members are US citizens and all but one were born in the United States.

"If you're not happy in the US, if you're complaining all the time, very simply: You can leave," he said, drawing scattered applause from a crowd of businesspeople.

Asked if he was concerned that some viewed his remarks as racist and that white supremacists found common cause with him, Trump said he was not. "It doesn`t concern me because many people agree with me," Trump said.


US Representatives Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) hold a news conference after Democrats in the US Congress moved to formally condemn President Donald Trump's attacks on the four minority congresswomen on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, July 15, 2019.  (Reuters Photo)

The president`s remarks were widely derided and some, though not many, of his fellow Republicans spoke out against them.





Tlaib and Omar repeated their calls for Trump to be impeached.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has been criticized by members of "the squad," said her party would introduce a resolution condemning Trump`s "xenophobic tweets."

A draft of the resolution, seen by Reuters late on Monday, said the House "strongly condemns President Donald Trump`s racist comments that have legitimised and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of colour ..."


Such a resolution could put Trump`s fellow Republicans in Congress in an awkward position, forcing them either to vote against their party`s leader, who has strong support among conservatives, or effectively to defend his statements.

Trump's attacks elevated the profiles of the four progressive Democrats, who have helped push the party`s agenda to the left, causing concern among Democratic moderates who are eager to hold onto their seats in the 2020 election.

A few Republicans speak out

Trump has a history of what critics consider race-baiting. He led a movement that falsely claimed former President Barack Obama was not born in the United States, and he said after a deadly, white supremacist-led rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that "both sides" were to blame for violence there.

"This is the agenda of white nationalists, whether it is happening in chat rooms, or it's happening on national TV, and now it`s reached the White House garden," Omar said.

Although most Republicans stayed silent on Trump`s divisive rhetoric, several began expressing concern late on Monday.

Texas Representative Will Hurd, the only African-American Republican in the House, called the attacks "racist" on CNN.

Tim Scott, the Senate's only black Republican, called them "racially offensive" on Twitter.

Others did not go that far. Senator Mitt Romney, the party`s 2012 presidential nominee, and Senator Marco Rubio, who ran in 2016, both condemned the remarks but declined to characterize them as racist.

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said the four lawmakers belonged in the United States, but did not criticise Trump. "The president is not a racist," he told reporters.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell did not comment on the controversy.

Trump regularly used racially charged language during his campaign and continued in his presidency. His latest remarks came as some of his efforts to deal with immigration - a major issue for his conservative base - have faltered.


'Racism, division'

In his Sunday tweets, Trump said of the four congresswomen, "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."


Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a sometime Trump golf partner and adviser, called the four congresswomen "communist" and "anti-Semitic" on Fox News on Monday, but he also called on Trump to stop making such personal attacks.

"Aim higher ... Take on their policies. The bottom line here is this is a diverse country," he said, adding that he had spoken to Trump.