July 14, 2019

Trump Tweets That Democratic Congresswomen of Color Aren’t American

In a series of racist tweets, he said they should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar.Andrew Harnik/AP

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President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday that three US-born Democratic congresswomen of color aren’t actually American and should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”

“So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world…now loudly…and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run,” Trump tweeted.

He added, “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”

For months, slow-burning tension has been building between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a group of progressive Democratic newcomers who have become known as “the squad.” That group is led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and includes Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashia Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and they’ve been unapologetically pushing for more radical reforms that Pelosi has refused to make a priority.

Of those four women, only one was born outside the United States. Omar spent the first decade of her life in her native Somalia. Trump has previously described African nations as “shithole countries” and suggested that the United States find ways to attract more migrants from predominantly white nations like Norway instead black countries like Nigeria.

Tlaib was born to Palestinian refugees in Michigan, and Ocasio-Cortez both moved to the mainland United States from Puerto Rico, which is a US territory. Pressley was born in Cincinnati and grew up in Chicago.

While the in-fighting between Democrats has earned headlines, Trump’s racist directive for them to essentially go back to Africa has escalated things considerably.

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