The Latest: Trump renews attacks on 4 congresswomen

National Politics

The Latest: Trump renews attacks on 4 congresswomen

The Associated Press

July 15, 2019 05:20 AM

ORDER REPRINT

FILE – In this May 18, 2019, file photo, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., speaks during the fourth annual Citywide Iftar Dinner in Austin, Texas. In tweets Sunday, President Donald Trump portrays the lawmakers as foreign-born troublemakers who should go back to their home countries. In fact, the lawmakers, except one, were born in the U.S. He didn’t identify the women but was referring to Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib.


Austin American-Statesman via AP, File

Nick Wagner


WASHINGTON

The Latest on President Donald Trump’s tweets about four lawmakers of color (all times local):

8 a.m.

President Donald Trump is not apologizing for his weekend tweets that four congresswomen of color should go back to the “broken and crime infested” countries they came from. Instead, Trump tweeted Monday that they ought to apologize to him for past remarks about Israel and about him.

Trump’s new tweets came as the White House tried to defend his weekend remarks, widely condemned by Democrats as racist. Marc Short, chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, said Monday that those tweets were aimed at “very specific” comments made by Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who was born in Somalia, and not as a “universal statement.”

Unlimited Digital Access: Only $0.99 For Your First Month

Get full access to The Bellingham Herald content across all your devices.

SAVE NOW

He says: “I don’t think that the president’s intent any way is racist.”

All four of the congresswomen are U.S. citizens.

But even as Short spoke, Trump’s new tweets Monday referenced “congresswomen,” not just Omar. He tweeted “When will the Radical Left Congresswomen apologize to our Country, the people of Israel and even to the Office of the President, for the foul language they have used, and the terrible things they have said. So many people are angry at them & their horrible & disgusting actions!”

Omar ignited a bipartisan uproar in Washington several months ago when she suggested that members of Congress support Israel for money. Another congresswoman, Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, riled up a supportive crowd by calling the president a profanity and predicting that Trump will be removed from office.

__

12:25 a.m.

President Donald Trump is shrugging off sharp criticism for tweets branded as racist in which he says four outspoken liberal congresswomen of color should go back to their “broken and crime infested” countries.

All are U.S. citizens and only one is foreign-born.

While Democrats have condemned Trump’s remarks, Republicans have remained largely silent.

In a tweet Sunday night, Trump says it is “so sad” to see Democrats sticking up for the women.

While Trump didn’t name the four, he is almost certainly referring to congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. Only Omar, from Somalia, is foreign-born.

Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in reply, “You are angry that people like us are serving in Congress and fighting against your hate-filled agenda.”

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.