“I’m Not A Racist” – Trump Insists After Telling 4 Congresswomen To Return To Their Countries

The president of the United States, Donald Trump has insisted that he is not a racist after his Twitter attacks on four US congresswomen were widely condemned as such.

Democrats have widely criticized the Trump administration’s approach to border control, saying they are holding migrants in inhumane conditions.

Trump, however, insists the border is facing a crisis and has defended the actions of his border agents. His administration announced a new rule to take effect on 16 July, which denies asylum to anyone who crosses the southern border without having applied for protection in “at least one-third country.”

Ms Ocasio-Cortez, Ms Tlaib and Ms Pressley on Friday, July 12, testified to a House committee about conditions in a migrant detention centre they had visited.

After their testimony, President Trump claimed conditions at the centre had had “great reviews”. He then took to his Twitter handle on Sunday, July 14, and said the women, who are all minorities and US citizens, should “go back” to countries they “came from”. He wrote:

“So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run.

“Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how.”

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1150381395078000643

However, after he was heavily condemned as a racist the tweets, Trump denied he was racist, saying: “I don’t have a Racist bone in my body!” He wrote:

“Those Tweets were NOT Racist. I don’t have a Racist bone in my body! The so-called vote to be taken is a Democrat con game. Republicans should not show “weakness” and fall into their trap.

“This should be a vote on the filthy language, statements and lies told by the Democrat Congresswomen, who I truly believe, based on their actions, hate our Country.

“Get a list of the HORRIBLE things they have said. Omar is polling at 8%, Cortez at 21%. Nancy Pelosi tried to push them away, but now they are forever wedded to the Democrat Party. See you in 2020!

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1151129281919102976

In their reaction, the targets of President Trump’s attack, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib, dismissed his remarks as a distraction.

They urged the US people “not to take the bait” at a news conference on Monday, July 15. The four women said they wanted to re-focus attention on to President Trump’s policies.

“This is simply a disruption and a distraction from the callous chaos and corrupt culture of this administration, all the way down,” Ms Pressley said.

Both Ms Omar and Ms Tlaib repeated their calls for Trump to be impeached.

Though the president did not explicitly name the women in his tweets on Sunday, the context made a clear link to the four Democratic congresswomen, who are known as The Squad.

Three of the women were born in the US and one, Ms Omar, was born in Somalia but came to the US as a child.