President Trump escalated his feud with the members of the “squad,” a group of liberal minority representatives, during a “Make America Great Again” rally in North Carolina on Wednesday.
Over the course of his speech in Greenville, Trump singled out Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
“These left-wing ideologues see our nation as a force of evil. The way they speak so badly of our country. They want to demolish our Constitution. Weaken our military. Eliminate the values that built this magnificent country. You have to look at some of their recent comments, which are never talked about. When you see the four congresswoman, oh isn’t that lovely,” he said to boos.
Although the president has faced intense backlash for telling the minority representatives to “go back” to their home countries, even though most of them were born in the U.S., Trump stuck to his guns and was met with cheers.
“Tonight I have a suggestion for the hate-filled extremists who are constantly trying to tear our country down. They never have anything good to say. That’s why I say, hey, if they don’t like it, let them leave. Let them leave,” he said.
“They are always telling us how to run it, how to do this. You know what? If they don’t love it, tell them to leave it,” he said, before noting that this would undoubtedly bring him negative press.
Trump’s speech comes after he targeted the “squad” in tweets over the weekend. “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” he said. While Omar was born in Somalia, the other three were born in the U.S.
The “squad” fired back at Trump during a Monday press conference on Capitol Hill. “This is simply a disruption and a distraction from the callous, chaotic, and corrupt culture of this administration all the way down. We want to get back to the business of the American people,” Tlaib said at the event.
The feud has evolved beyond just a war of words. The House passed a resolution condemning Trump’s tweet on Tuesday, with just four Republican votes and the backing of one independent, Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, who left the GOP earlier this month because he dislikes Trump.
The president’s comments, widely derided as racist, also prompted Democratic Texas Rep. Al Green to force a hasty vote on the House floor on a resolution to bring articles of impeachment against Trump. While dozens of House Democrats want to begin an impeachment inquiry against Trump, the vote showed their numbers remain too few to win a floor vote to start one. The vote was 332-95 to kill the measure. Ninety-five Democrats voted against tabling it, demonstrating that about 40% of the House Democratic caucus backs impeachment.
During the rally in North Carolina, Trump addressed the “many” issues revolving around the members of the “squad.” As he singled out Omar, Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, and Pressley for a litany of gripes, a loud round of booing followed.
His criticism of Omar, a Muslim Democrat from Minnesota, was particularly severe.
“Rep. Omar blamed the United States for the terrorist attacks on our country. Saying that terrorism is a reaction to our involvement in other peoples’ affairs. She smeared U.S. service members involved in Black Hawk Down. In other words, she slandered the brave Americans were trying to keep peace in Somalia,” he said of Omar, who was born in Somalia.
“Omar minimized the Sept. 11 attacks on our homeland saying ‘some people did something.’ I don’t think so. Some people did something. Yeah, some people did something, all right. She pleaded for compassion for ISIS recruits attempting to join the terrorist organizations. She was looking for compassion. Omar laughed that Americans speak about China in a menacing tone and remarked that, ‘You don’t say America with this intensity. You say al Qaeda, it makes you proud.’ Al Qaeda makes you proud! You don’t speak that way about America,'” Trump added. “And at a press conference just this week, when asked whether she supported al Qaeda, that’s our enemy, that’s our enemy. They are a very serious problem that we take care of what but they always seem to come along somewhere. She refused to answer. She didn’t want to give an answer to that question.”
Trump said Omar blamed the United States for the crisis in Venezuela. He also said she “looks down with contempt on the hardworking Americans saying that ignorance is pervasive in many parts of this country. And obviously, and importantly, Omar has a history of launching vicious anti-Semitic screeds.” He also noted her inflammatory comments about Israel.
Chants of “send her back” in the crowd ensued.
Trump said Tlaib “agreed with Omar’s characterization of 9/11 and said that members of Congress who support Israel forgot what country they represent.” He also hearkened back to when, after she was elected, Tlaib told a gathering of liberal activists, “We’re going to go in and impeach the motherf—er.”
“That’s not nice, even for me,” Trump quipped.
Trump mocked Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal and railed against the New York Democrat for conducting “outrageous attacks against men and women of law enforcement,” referring to border officials. He also made light of her name and criticized her characterization of poor conditions for migrants in detention centers.
On Pressley, Trump joked that she might be related to singing legend Elvis Presley and brought up her taking a shot at the Congressional Black Caucus during a discussion at the Netroots Nation convention in Philadelphia.
Trump also chided the “squad” for’ refusing to condemn antifa.
