Trump doubled down in his attacks on 4 Democratic congresswomen of color, calling their actions 'horrible' and 'disgusting'
- President Trump renewed attacks on four Democratic congresswomen of color he had earlier said should "go back and help fix" their "broken and crime infested" countries.
- "If Democrats want to unite around the foul language & racist hatred spewed from the mouths and actions of these very unpopular & unrepresentative Congresswomen, it will be interesting to see how it plays out," he tweeted.
- The tweets were directed at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Ayanna Pressley all of whom were born in the United States, and Rep. Ilhan Omar, a US citizen born in Somalia.
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President Donald Trump on Monday doubled down on criticism of Democratic congresswomen he subjected to attacks widely decried as racist.
"If Democrats want to unite around the foul language & racist hatred spewed from the mouths and actions of these very unpopular & unrepresentative Congresswomen, it will be interesting to see how it plays out," he tweeted early Monday. "I can tell you that they have made Israel feel abandoned by the U.S."
His tweet followed a Sunday attack on four progressive congresswomen of color, in which the president wrote that they should "go back and help fix" their "broken and crime infested" countries.
The subject of the attacks were Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Ayanna Pressley all of whom were born in the United States, and Rep. Ilhan Omar, a US citizen whose family were given asylum in the US after fleeing Somalia.
The four - nicknamed "The Squad" - have been among the most adamant opponents of Trump's hardline anti-immigration policy.
In another tweet Monday, Trump described the group's actions as "horrible" and "disgusting." He also criticized their attitudes towards Israel.
Rep. Omar has faced criticism for her remarks on Israel, and allegations of Israeli influence in the United States. Ocasio-Cortez reportedly said in April that US policy towards Israel should change, following the re-election of Benjamin Netanyahu, whom she compared to Trump.
Though Trump did not name the congresswomen, it was clear that they were the subject of his attack because he referenced their dispute last week with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, tweeting "I'm sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!"
On Sunday, Pelosi defended the congresswomen, tweeting:
Trump's tweets have also attracted international condemnation, with UK Prime Minister Theresa May's office in a statement Monday saying, "The prime minister's view is that [the] language used to refer to the women was completely unacceptable."
Ocasio-Cortez had last week accused Pelosi of singling out "newly elected women of color" for criticism as Democrats clashed over funding for a new border security bill.
In his follow-up tweets Sunday, Trump seemed to determined to further exploit the division.
"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," he tweeted.