Democratic strategist Will Jawando praised a House-passed Democratic resolution condemning President Trump for recent tweets attacking four minority congresswomen.
The resolution, which passed in a 240-187 vote, came in response to Trump’s tweet over the weekend when he told Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.) and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) to “go back” to their home countries, even though they all four are U.S. citizens.
“It was the right thing to do, are there other issues we need to focus on? Sure, but I think we need to call a spade a spade and the reason we’re divided right now is because he’s feeding this fear and hate,” Jawando, a former Associate Director of the Office of Public Engagement under the Obama administration, told Hill.TV, adding “we can’t stand for that.”
Jawando, who is now a council member in Montgomery County, Md., called the president’s comments unacceptable and clearly racist.
“Ultimately sanity prevailed, and we called a racist a racist,” he said. “It’s really unfortunate that we are where we are where Americans — members of Congress — are being told to go back to where they came from and to say that is not racist — I don’t know how you say that when you look at the history of this president.”
Trump’s remarks sparked backlash from Democrats and even some Republicans.
Four Republican lawmakers voted in favor of the resolution condemning Trump: Reps. Susan Brooks (Ind.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Will Hurd (Texas) and Fred Upton (Mich.).
The majority of House Republicans rejected the resolution as a “partisan ploy” by Democrats.
“This resolution divides our nation and distracts us from addressing the issues the American people sent us here to solve,” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) said in a statement following the vote. “It’s time House Democrats start focusing on the real problems facing the American people, instead of their own.”
Trump has doubled down on his remarks, insisting that there is not a “racist bone” in his body. He also released a video on Wednesday taunting “the squad,” a term commonly used to refer to the four progressive lawmakers targeted by Trump over the weekend.
—Tess Bonn
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