President Trump clarified why he said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and her fellow liberal congresswomen were a “racist group.”
“I think they are very bad for our country. I really think they must hate our country. I think the four congressmen that we are talking about, the congresswomen and what they’ve said about Israel and what they’ve said about our country,” Trump said during a Monday press conference. “When the one mentioned that, ‘Brown people should speak for brown people’ and ‘Muslim people should speak for Muslim people.’ And you hear all this, it’s not what our country is all about.”
Trump’s comments were an addition to comments he made earlier in the day calling the group of congresswomen “very racist.”
“The ‘Squad’ is a very Racist group of troublemakers who are young, inexperienced, and not very smart,” Trump said. “They are pulling the once great Democrat Party far left, and were against humanitarian aid at the Border…And are now against ICE and Homeland Security. So bad for our Country!”
The “Squad” is a very Racist group of troublemakers who are young, inexperienced, and not very smart. They are pulling the once great Democrat Party far left, and were against humanitarian aid at the Border…And are now against ICE and Homeland Security. So bad for our Country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 22, 2019
Trump’s press conference remarks referenced Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s, D-Mass., recent comments in which she said, “We don’t need black faces that don’t want to be a black voice. We don’t need Muslims that don’t want to be a Muslim voice. We don’t need queers that don’t want to be a queer voice. If you’re worried about being marginalized and stereotyped, please don’t even show up because we need you to represent that voice.”
Trump has intensified attacks in recent weeks on Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Pressley, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. The president has been critical of Omar for her history of controversial comments regarding Israel.
His most recent comments come after more than a week of controversy that followed his telling the group of liberal congresswomen to “go back” to their home countries, despite only Omar having been born outside of the United States. They responded by holding a press conference during which they renewed calls for the president to be impeached.
