Donald Trump Demands Apologies From Congresswomen Who Called Him Out Over Tweets Seen As Racist
Donald Trump said on Monday that the four Democratic Congresswomen whom he told to go back to their countries need to apologize for calling him out on it, Yahoo News reports.
On Sunday, Trump tweeted that four freshmen Democratic Congresswomen — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota — should go back to their “broken” and “crime-infested” countries. Of the four, only one, Omar, was not born in the United States.
The tweet was widely condemned as racist. The women themselves responded, with Ocasio-Cortez accusing Trump of relying on “a frightened America,” and Omar accusing him of “stoking white nationalism.”
Now, Trump wants an apology.
In a Monday tweet, Trump said those four women should be the ones apologizing, not him.
“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!” he wrote.
Yahoo News writer Kadia Tubman posits that by “foul language,” Trump was referring to Rashida Tlaib, who said in early May that Congress should “impeach the motherf**ker,” referring to Trump.
P.S. @realdonaldtrump, keep talking, you just make me work harder. I'm proud of my Palestinian roots & a WEAK bully like you never wins. This is what America looks like ??.
P.S.S. #13thDistrictStrong will lead the fight for the #BoostAct #JusticeforAllAct while you golf. https://t.co/NY9QgamHml pic.twitter.com/1NkCi0syB7
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) July 14, 2019
As for demanding an apology to the people of Israel, Tubman suggests that Trump was referring to Ilhan Omar, who has made controversial comments about Israel in the past. For example, as Yahoo News reported at the time, back in February and March, Omar made comments that some took as anti-Israel. She criticized the influence that Israel has in American foreign policy, and she mentioned that Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu was “facing indictments for bribery and other crimes in three separate public corruption affairs.”
Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, Omar and Pressley are making a name for themselves in Congress. Nicknamed “The Squad,” the four women represent a progressive wing of the Democratic Party that is at odds with the more centrist wing of the party.
And in fact, they’ve already run afoul of their leader, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Last week, the four criticized Pelosi for working with Trump on a bill that included money for border spending. Ocasio-Cortez accused Pelosi of “singling out” women of color, an accusation that brought Trump to Pelosi’s defense.
“I’ll tell you something about Nancy Pelosi that you know better than I do: She is not a racist,” he said.
