Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) claimed Saturday that President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda is about “ethnicity and racism.”
“All you need to do is hear what the President did this week to know this is not about immigration at all,” Ocasio-Cortez said at a town hall in Queens, New York City, according to CNN. “Because once you start telling American citizens to quote ‘go back to your own countries,’ this tells you that this President’s policies are not about immigration, it’s about ethnicity and racism.”
The far-left lawmaker addressed President Trump’s recent criticisms of her and the “Squad,” also comprised of Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Rep. Ayana Pressley (D-MA).
Referring to the president’s “go back” tweet, Ocasio-Cortez said his “biggest mistake was that he said the quiet part aloud – that was his biggest mistake.”
“Because we know that he’s been thinking this the entire time. But he’s been keeping it in here. And this week, it went out here. When he started telling American citizens — where are we going to go?” the New York Democrat went on.
“We’re going to stay right here, that’s where we’re going to go. We’re not going anywhere,” she added.
President Trump set off a political firestorm Sunday, tweeting of the foursome often critical of U.S. policy: “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”
Tensions between President Trump and the “Squad” escalated after Trump supporters chanted “send her back” about Omar during his Wednesday evening campaign rally in Greenville, North Carolina. The following day, the president expressed displeasure with the chant, saying he was “not happy” about it.
“I felt a little bit badly about it, but I will say this: I did start speaking very quickly… I was not happy with it. I disagree with it, but, again, I didn’t say that; they did,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.