German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she stands with the four congresswomen President Trump said should “go back” to the countries they “originally” came from.
Trump made the controversial remarks last weekend and received backlash from both Democrats and a number of Republican lawmakers. The tweets targeted the self-described “squad,” comprised of Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts
“I distance myself from this decidedly and stand in solidarity with the women who were attacked,” Merkel reportedly said at a press conference in Berlin on Friday.
“Those are sentiments which are very much in opposition to my impressions [about the US], which I strongly believe in, and it is something that undermines America’s strength,” the 65-year-old German leader added.
She also said that for her, the “US’s strength lies exactly in the fact that people of very different nationalities contribute to the strength of the American people.”
Other European leaders have condemned the remarks, including the next likely prime minister of the United Kingdom, Conservative Boris Johnson.
