Four freshman female lawmakers of color are firing back at President Donald Trump for his comments referring to a group of Democratic congresswomen as foreign-born troublemakers who should go back to the “broken and crime infested places from which they came.”
Trump didn’t specify who he was referring to in his early morning Sunday tweets, but many news outlets suggested he was directing his comments to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and her allies in what’s become known as “the squad.”
The others are Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. Omar, from Somalia, is the only foreign-born lawmaker of the group.
Trump’s attacks come as the highly public rift between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a clutch of congresswomen led by Ocasio-Cortez has spilled into the spotlight.
Ocasio-Cortez, who is of Puerto-Rican descent, quickly denounced the president’s remarks.
“Mr. President, the country I come from, & the country we all swear to, is the United States,” she tweeted. “You are angry because you can’t conceive of an America that includes us. You rely on a frightened America for your plunder. … On top of not accepting an America that elected us, you cannot accept that we don’t fear you, either. You can’t accept that we will call your bluff & offer a positive vision for this country. And that’s what makes you seethe.”
Pressley, the first black woman elected to the House from Massachusetts who was born in Cincinnati, said Trump’s tweet illustrates racism.
"THIS is what racism looks like. WE are what democracy looks like," she tweeted. "And we’re not going anywhere. Except back to DC to fight for the families you marginalize and vilify everyday."
Linking to Trump’s tweets, Omar wrote: “Mr. President, As Members of Congress, the only country we swear an oath to is the United States. Which is why we are fighting to protect it from the worst, most corrupt and inept president we have ever seen.”
Omar is the first Somali native elected to Congress and one of its first Muslim women. She immigrated to the United States at 12.
“You are stoking white nationalism bc you are angry that people like us are serving in Congress and fighting against your hate-filled agenda,” she added.
Tlaib, who was born in Detroit, suggested Trump was the crisis.
“Want a response to a lawless & complete failure of a President? He is the crisis. His dangerous ideology is the crisis. He needs to be impeached,” she tweeted.
Trump’s attacks were also denounced by Pelosi, who labeled the comments as “xenophobic,” Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kamala Harris of California and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke.