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Here are all the prominent Republicans who have condemned Trump's racist comments targeting freshman congresswomen
Here are all the prominent Republicans who have condemned Trump's racist comments targeting freshman congresswomen
Grace PanettaJul 16, 2019, 01:02 IST
President Donald Trump answers questions from the media during the "3rd Annual Made in America Product Showcase" on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., July 15, 2019.Leah Millis/Reuters
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President Donald Trump posted a series of racist tweets telling four progressive congresswomen of color, to "go back" to their "countries" early Sunday morning.
While most prominent Democratic leaders condemned the tweets as xenophobic and bigoted, far fewer of their Republican colleagues have done the same.
Openly criticizing Trump - who values loyalty above all else - can be akin to a political death sentence in today's Republican party.
Here are the dozen current and former Republican politicians who have risked drawing Trump's ire and openly denounced his tweets.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, President Donald Trump poured fuel onto the flames of an ongoing feud between Democratic leadership and four progressive congresswomen of color with a series of racist tweets telling them to "go back" to their "countries."
He charged that the congresswomen "originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world" and wondered, "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."
In the past few weeks, tensions between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the congresswomen, Rep. Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez of New York, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, have spilled out into the open.
Just one of those members, Omar, was born outside of the United States, coming to America as a refugee from Somalia at a young age. Ocasio-Cortez, whose parents are from the US territory Puerto Rico, was born in New York City. Talib, who is Palestinian-American, was born in Detroit, Michigan, and Pressley, who is African-American, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Dozens of Democratic presidential candidates and fellow congressional Democrats came to the defense of the congresswomen and condemned Trump's remarks as open racism and bigotry, but far fewer Republicans have spoken out to denounce them.
Openly criticizing Trump - who values loyalty above all else - can be akin to a political death sentence in today's Republican party, but about a dozen current and former GOP members of Congress and governors are starting to speak out.
Here are the prominent Republican politicians who have denounced Trump's tweets:
Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich called Trump's comments "deplorable and beneath the dignity of the office," adding, "we all, including Republicans, need to speak out against these kinds of comments that do nothing more than divide us and create deep animosity."
Massachusetts' GOP Gov. Charlie Baker condemned Trump's comments as "shameful" and "racist" on Monday, adding, "They bring a tremendous amount of... disgrace to public policy and public life and I condemn them all.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska tweeted, "there is no excuse for the president’s spiteful comments – they were absolutely unacceptable and this needs to stop."
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said in a statement: "the President's tweet that some members of Congress should go back to the 'places from which they came' was way over the line and he should take that down."
Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said in a statement that Trump "was wrong to suggest that four left-wing congresswomen should go back to where they came from...we should defeat their ideas on the merits, not on the basis of their ancestry."
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said in a statement: "The President interjected with unacceptable personal attacks and racially offensive language. No matter our political disagreements, aiming for the lowest common denominator will only divide our nation further."
Former Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona tweeted: "There are times when the President's comments are so vile and offensive that it is incumbent on Republicans to respond and condemn. This is one of those times."
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas wrote, "POTUS was wrong to say any American citizen, whether in Congress or not, has any ‘home’ besides the U.S. But I just as strongly believe non-citizens who abuse our immigration laws should be sent home immediately, & Reps who refuse to defend America should be sent home 11/2020."
Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan wrote, "Frankly I’m appalled by the President's tweets. There’s no excuse. Inflammatory rhetoric from both sides of the aisle that is used to divide us just isn’t right. It’s not helpful."
Rep. Paul Mitchell, also of Michigan, tweeted: "@RealDonaldTrump, we must be better than comments like these. I share the political frustrations with some members of the other party, but these comments are beneath leaders."
Rep. Will Hurd of Texas told CNN's Christiane Amanpour he believed Trump's comments were "racist" and "xenophobic," adding, "It’s also behavior that’s unbecoming of the leader of the free world. He should be talking about things that unite, not divide us."
Rep. Pete Olson, also of Texas, wrote, "The Tweet President Trump posted over the weekend about fellow Members of Congress are not reflective of the values of the 1,000,000+ people in Texas 22. We are proud to be the most diverse Congressional district in America. I urge our President immediately disavow his comments."
Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio wrote, "I am confident that every Member of Congress is a committed American. @realDonaldTrump’s tweets from this weekend were racist and he should apologize. We must work as a country to rise above hate, not enable it."
