Minority congresswomen condemn Trump’s ‘racist’ remarks: ‘This is the agenda of white nationalists’
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota accused President Trump of “launching a blatantly racist attack on four duly elected members” of the U.S. House of Representatives, pointing out that they are all women of color.
“This is the agenda of white nationalists. Whether it is happening in chat rooms, or it is happening on national TV, and now it’s reached the White House garden,” Omar said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
She was joined by Reps. Ayanna Pressley ​​​​of Massachusettes, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
The four congresswomen were at the center of Trump’s tweets. On Sunday, the President used racist language to attack progressive Democratic congresswomen, falsely implying they weren’t natural-born American citizens.
Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib and Pressley are natural-born US citizens, while Omar was born in Somalia and immigrated to the U.S. when she was young. Omar became a citizen in 2000 when she was 17 years old, according to the New York Times.
Omar concluded her remarks by calling for Trump’s impeachment.
“I have not made impeachment central to my election or my tenure. But since the day that I’ve gotten elected, I’ve said to people, it is not — if he will be impeached, but when. So it is time for us to stop allowing this President to make a mockery out of our Constitution. It is time for us to impeach this President.”
Pressley called Trump’s “racist” attacks a “disruptive distraction” and urged people not to “take the bait.”
“He does not embody the grace, the empathy, the compassion, the integrity that that office requires and that the American people deserve,” the Massachusetts lawmaker said speaking at a news conference this afternoon. “That being said, I encourage the American people and all of us in this room and beyond to not take the bait. This is a disruptive distraction from the issues of care, concern, and consequence to the American people.”
Pressley defiantly said, “We will not be silenced. She also took aim at the President calling him “the occupant of the White House” and saying, “I will always, refer to him as the occupant as he is only occupying space.”
President Trump was tweeting as the four Democratic congresswomen he attacked held their news conference.
Trump said Democrats have been “forced to embrace them,” presumably because of his attacks.
The Dems were trying to distance themselves from the four “progressives,” but now they are forced to embrace them. That means they are endorsing Socialism, hate of Israel and the USA! Not good for the Democrats!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 15, 2019
