President Donald Trump went on a Twitter rant aimed at a group of Democratic congresswomen telling them to “go back to the countries they came from.”
What We Know:
- This time around, Trump’s series of tweets were aimed at “Progressive Democratic Congresswomen.” Although no names were mentioned, his attack seemed to be meant for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Talib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
- “So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world,” Trump wrote on Twitter, “now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run.”
- Ocasio-Cortez was born in the Bronx to parents of Puerto Rican descent. Pressley, who is black, was born in Cincinnati and raised in Chicago. Tlaib was born in Detroit to Palestinian immigrants and Omar is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Somalia, a country in which her family fled due to a civil war and ethnic strife.
- Trump added, “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done.” His tweets came on the same weekend that ICE agents began rounding up around 2,000 undocumented immigrants.
- The President concluded his rant with “these places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!”
- Pelosi condemned Trump’s remarks as xenophobic and said his “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan, “has always been about making America white again.”
Trump has said several times that he does not hold racist views, despite his public statements in the past.
