Brit Hume: Trump’s ‘go back’ tweets ‘nativist, xenophobic, counterfactual and politically stupid,’ but not racist

Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume slammed President Trump on Monday for suggesting a group of Democratic congresswomen should “go back” to their home countries, calling the president’s tweets “nativist, xenophobic, counterfactual and politically stupid,” but not racist. 

“Trump’s ‘go back’ comments were nativist, xenophobic, counterfactual and politically stupid,” Hume wrote to his more than 1 million followers. “But they simply do not meet the standard definition of racist, a word so recklessly flung around these days that its actual meaning is being lost.”

Trump’s “go back” comments were nativist, xenophobic, counterfactul and politically stupid. But they simply do not meet the standard definition of racist, a word so recklessly flung around these days that its actual meaning is being lost.

— Brit Hume (@brithume) July 15, 2019

{mosads}After some questioned how he would define racism, the former ABC News chief White House correspondent responded with a definition from Merriam-Webster.

“For those who asked what is my standard definition of racism, here is an answer: Note definition 1,” wrote Hume.

For those who asked what is my standard definition of racism, here is an answer: Note definition 1. https://t.co/4kPRE3wDA7

— Brit Hume (@brithume) July 15, 2019

“A belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race,” reads the first definition in Merriam-Webster.

Trump’s online attacks against the congresswomen, believed to be Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), began Sunday morning on Twitter. Three of the four lawmakers were born in the U.S., while Omar, who is a U.S. citizen, was born in Somalia and came to the U.S. as a refugee.

The president on Monday afternoon denied allegations that his comments were racist.

“Not at all,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if his tweets were racist. “If somebody has a problem with our country, if somebody doesn’t want to be in our country, they should leave.”

When asked which Democratic lawmakers he was referring to, Trump replied, “I think you can guess.”