Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Monday slammed President Trump for using the “language of white supremacists” in telling a group of Democratic congresswomen that they should “go back” to the countries they came from.
“It’s important to note that the President’s words [yesterday], telling four American Congresswomen of color ‘go back to your own country,’ is hallmark language of white supremacists,” tweeted Ocasio-Cortez, one of four freshmen lawmakers at whom the comments were apparently directed.
“Trump feels comfortable leading the GOP into outright racism, and that should concern all Americans.”
Trump in a tweet Sunday appeared to target an unnamed group of progressive congresswomen “who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe.”
{mosads}In the tweets, which seemed to be directed at Ocasio-Cortez and Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), the president suggested they “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”
All four of the freshman congresswomen are U.S. citizens, and only Omar, who came to the U.S. as a refugee from Somalia, was born outside the U.S. The comments have widely been condemned by the Democratic Party as racist.
Trump doubled down on the comments Sunday night, making clear to whom his comments were directed in his initial tweet.
“So sad to see the Democrats sticking up for people who speak so badly of our Country and who, in addition, hate Israel with a true and unbridled passion. Whenever confronted, they call their adversaries, including Nancy Pelosi, ‘RACIST,'” Trump said in a pair of tweets.
The remarks came after a week of infighting among House Democrats. The dust-up came after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) made remarks about the first-year congresswomen in an interview with The New York Times last weekend that some perceived to be dismissive.
The tensions within the party escalated after Ocasio-Cortez told The Washington Post that she felt Pelosi was targeting women of color, though the New York Democrat said she doesn’t believe the Speaker is racist.
Pelosi called Trump’s comments “xenophobic,” arguing that the president’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan is really about “making America white again.”
Ocasio-Cortez had previously responded to Trump’s tweets, saying that “the country I ‘come from,’ & the country we all swear to, is the United States.”