Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) claimed Monday that President Donald Trump’s remarks in which he called on four progressive lawmakers to leave the United States and prove their ability to reform corrupt nations before returning are the “hallmark language of white supremacists.”
“It’s important to note that the President’s words yday, telling four American Congresswomen of color ‘go back to your own country,’ is hallmark language of white supremacists,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter Monday morning.
“Trump feels comfortable leading the GOP into outright racism, and that should concern all Americans,” she added.
In a series of Sunday tweets, President Trump appeared to have called on Ocasio-Cortez, Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), known as the “squad,” to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”
The four lawmakers are U.S. citizens and the Somalia-born Omar is the only lawmaker of the group who was born outside the country.
President Trump re-upped on his remarks on Sunday evening, stating it was “sad” that Democrats rushed to the defense of the far-left lawmakers who are highly critical of the U.S.
“So sad to see the Democrats sticking up for people who speak so badly of our Country and who, in addition, hate Israel with a true and unbridled passion. Whenever confronted, they call their adversaries, including Nancy Pelosi, ‘RACIST,'” the president tweeted.
“Their disgusting language and the many terrible things they say about the United States must not be allowed to go unchallenged,” he added. “If the Democrat Party wants to continue to condone such disgraceful behavior, then we look even more forward to seeing you at the ballot box in 2020!”
Democrats raced to defend the squad against President Trump’s comments. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) described the president’s tweets as “xenophobic” and said his “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan refers to “making America white again.” Virtually every 2020 Democrat candidate attempted to one-up each other in expressing outrage over the remarks.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) tweeted:
When I call the president a racist, this is what I’m talking about. We must stand together for justice and dignity towards all.
South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg tweeted:
As an immigrant and a citizen, my dad cared deeply about this country. Once, when he was speaking at a campus protest against Reagan’s accommodation of apartheid, a passing student noticed Dad’s brown skin and unique accent and called out: “go home!” He answered: “I am home.”
Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper tweeted:
This makes me sick. @realDonaldTrump continues to divide the country and is now attacking women of color serving in Congress. Shame on him. Real leaders bring us together, not tear us apart.
President Trump’s comments came as establishment Democrats and the squad have been locked in a war of worlds prompted by Ocasio-Cortez suggesting Pelosi was motivated by race for downplaying the significance of the four far-left Democrats, including herself, voting against the border funding bill supported by party leadership.