A reelection campaign dominated by incendiary chants of “send her back” is a worst-case scenario for President Trump, warn senior Republicans who are moving swiftly to douse a political prairie fire sparked by the commander-in-chief’s use of the mantra to attack some Democrats in Congress.
The rhetoric reeks of xenophobia and threatens Trump with key voters in critical 2020 battlegrounds, and Republicans who have studiously avoided criticizing the president were quick to rebuke voters who followed his lead and broke into a spontaneous chant of “send her back” when he mentioned Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., a Somali-born American, during a campaign rally in North Carolina.
“That does not need to be our campaign call like we did the ‘lock her up’ last time,” said Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., referring to a chant common at Trump rallies when the president mentions Hillary Clinton, the Democrat he defeated in 2016. Walker, who leads a caucus of conservatives in the House and is a consistent Trump supporter, described the “send her back” chant, which he witnessed firsthand, as “offensive.”
Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, and Matt Brooks of the Republican Jewish Coalition, who in an interview with the Washington Examiner had aggressively defended Trump against Democratic charges of racism and xenophobia, were among the array of Republicans usually silent in these instances to chide rally-goers for chanting “send her back.”
“The ‘send her back’ chants were wrong, vile, and don’t reflect who we are as Americans. I strongly oppose @IlhanMN views and policies but those chants have no place in our society,” Brooks tweeted Thursday.
The “send her back” chants were wrong, vile, and don’t reflect who we are as Americans. I strongly oppose @IlhanMN views and policies but those chants have no place in our society.
— Matt Brooks (@mbrooksrjc) July 18, 2019
Most Republicans in Congress, including Walker, did not publicly denounce the president after said in a Twitter post and subsequent comments that four liberal firebrands known as “the squad” — Omar and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan — should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” Other than Omar, a naturalized citizen, all were born in the United States.
But these same Republicans were so alarmed by the “send her back” chants, which Walker estimates were voiced by 35% of the 8,000-strong crowd at Trump’s Greenville, North Carolina, rally, they made a special plea to Vice President Mike Pence to stop it from happening again. Several made their concerns public.
The president during the rally did not scold the engaged crowd after they responded to his mention of Omar with chants of “send her back” in a scene that one Republican operative likened to a “scary,” vigilante mob. Rather, Trump paused, as he typically does when his rally audiences chant, and then mentioned Omar by name again and continued.
“It’s totally unacceptable,” Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said. First elected to Congress in 2002 and a professional political operative for years prior, Cole, 70, indicated that Trump could be in trouble with elements of his winning 2016 coalition that he has yet to lock down: swing voters, independents, women, and white college graduates in the suburbs.
“I don’t think using that kind of rhetoric and expressing that kind of sentiment ever helps,” Cole said. “I see no political upside to it whatsoever and I see lots of downside.”
The rare pleading and outspoken push back, especially from House Republicans, might have worked. Less than 24 hours after the rally, and within a few hours of Republicans registering their complaints with the White House, Trump appeared to disavow the chants. “I was not happy with it — I disagree with it,” he told reporters.
Pressed to explain why they would go so far as to criticize voters but let Trump off the hook, some Republicans said Trump did not intend to use rhetoric deemed xenophobic and racist by some Americans. Rather, they insist, the president inartfully attempted to deploy a version of the “love it or leave it” construct against this group of liberal, nonwhite congresswomen who have been highly critical of U.S. domestic and foreign policy.
Many Republicans believe this sort of message could boost Trump, and the rest of the party, in 2020.
