Problem Solvers Caucus co-chair calls Trump comments about progressive congresswomen ‘totally unacceptable’

The co-chair of the moderate Problem Solvers Caucus, which led a revolt among House Democrats that forced a vote on a Trump-backed border aid Senate bill, defended four progressive congresswomen after President Trump tweeted that the four of them, three of whom were born in the U.S., should “go back” to their home countries.

“The offensive comments made this morning about my colleagues are totally unacceptable and wrong,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) wrote, linking to a Washington Post story about the tweets. “There is no place for it (in Congress or anywhere in our country).”

{mosads}In June, Gottheimer’s caucus successfully pressured House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to take up the bill, backed by the White House and the Republican senate, a move that created a furor among progressive members.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) were the only four House Democrats to earlier vote against the House border aid bill, leading Pelosi to dismiss them in an interview with the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd.

However, Trump’s tweets have drawn strong defenses from both the four members’ allies in Congress and Pelosi allies, including Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Assistant Speaker Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.).

Figures ranging from Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) to Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) have also come to the members’ defense.