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| Republicans silent as Trump renews racist attack on congresswomen | Republicans silent as Trump renews racist attack on congresswomen |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| In the face of international condemnation – but very little comment from his own party – Donald Trump returned to the offensive against four Democratic congresswoman he targeted with racial invective on Sunday. | In the face of international condemnation – but very little comment from his own party – Donald Trump returned to the offensive against four Democratic congresswoman he targeted with racial invective on Sunday. |
| 'Go back home': Trump aims racist attack at Ocasio-Cortez and other congresswomen | 'Go back home': Trump aims racist attack at Ocasio-Cortez and other congresswomen |
| True to provocative form, the president accused the Democrats of “spewing” “racist hatred” – precisely the offence of which he has been widely accused. | True to provocative form, the president accused the Democrats of “spewing” “racist hatred” – precisely the offence of which he has been widely accused. |
| In a tweet early on Monday, the president wrote: “When will the Radical Left Congresswomen apologize to our Country, the people of Israel and even to the Office of the President, for the foul language they have used, and the terrible things they have said. So many people are angry at them [and] their horrible [and] disgusting actions!” | In a tweet early on Monday, the president wrote: “When will the Radical Left Congresswomen apologize to our Country, the people of Israel and even to the Office of the President, for the foul language they have used, and the terrible things they have said. So many people are angry at them [and] their horrible [and] disgusting actions!” |
| He added: “If Democrats want to unite around the foul language [and] racist hatred spewed from the mouths and actions of these very unpopular [and] unrepresentative Congresswomen, it will be interesting to see how it plays out. I can tell you that they have made Israel feel abandoned by the US.” | He added: “If Democrats want to unite around the foul language [and] racist hatred spewed from the mouths and actions of these very unpopular [and] unrepresentative Congresswomen, it will be interesting to see how it plays out. I can tell you that they have made Israel feel abandoned by the US.” |
| The tweets reflected others Trump sent late on Sunday amid the storm created by his initial demand that the unnamed congresswomen should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime[-]infested places from which they came”. | |
| The targets of Trump’s ire were Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of New York; Rashida Tlaib, of Michigan; Ayanna Pressley, of Massachusetts; and Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota. | The targets of Trump’s ire were Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of New York; Rashida Tlaib, of Michigan; Ayanna Pressley, of Massachusetts; and Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota. |
| There was a time Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham, Nikki Haley, Jeff Flake, even Reince [Priebus] would have denounced this | There was a time Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham, Nikki Haley, Jeff Flake, even Reince [Priebus] would have denounced this |
| None are white, all are critics of Trump and progressives ranged against House speaker Nancy Pelosi in a public fight over the direction of their party. Together, the four women have become known as “the Squad”. | |
| In familiar fashion, Trump’s first tweets, sent perhaps to distract from controversy over squalid conditions at the southern border and certainly in an attempt to drive a wedge into a fissure in the opposition party, were factually inaccurate. | In familiar fashion, Trump’s first tweets, sent perhaps to distract from controversy over squalid conditions at the southern border and certainly in an attempt to drive a wedge into a fissure in the opposition party, were factually inaccurate. |
| Only Omar was born abroad – in Somalia, coming to America at the age of 12. Ocasio-Cortez is of Puerto Rican heritage and was born in New York. Tlaib’s parents were Palestinian immigrants who settled in Detroit. Pressley is African American and was born in Cincinnati. | Only Omar was born abroad – in Somalia, coming to America at the age of 12. Ocasio-Cortez is of Puerto Rican heritage and was born in New York. Tlaib’s parents were Palestinian immigrants who settled in Detroit. Pressley is African American and was born in Cincinnati. |
| Omar and Tlaib were the first Muslim women elected to Congress. On Sunday Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said: “If Trump shouted the same thing at a Muslim woman wearing hijab in a Walmart, he might be arrested.” | Omar and Tlaib were the first Muslim women elected to Congress. On Sunday Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said: “If Trump shouted the same thing at a Muslim woman wearing hijab in a Walmart, he might be arrested.” |
| Ocasio-Cortez is a prominent advocate of policies such as the Green New Deal which have made her a hate figure on Fox News and among Trump’s base. Pressley has been prominent in criticism of the Trump administration over the border crisis. | |
| Trump claims migrant detention center visited by Pence was ‘clean but crowded’ | Trump claims migrant detention center visited by Pence was ‘clean but crowded’ |
| Condemnation of Trump’s attack on the congresswomen was widespread on Sunday, with the four Democrats, senior party figures and mainstream press outlets condemning them as racist. On Monday, Ocasio-Cortez said Trump was “leading the GOP into outright racism, and that should concern all Americans”. | |
| Tlaib was among Democrats calling for impeachment. Pelosi’s reluctance to move on the issue is another point of difference between “the Squad” and party leaders. | |
| That condemnation has now rippled across the Atlantic – on Monday a spokesman for the British prime minister, Theresa May, said they were “completely unacceptable”. Boris Johnson, May’s heir apparent who is seen to be close to Trump, was under pressure to comment too. | |
| Among Republicans, few spoke up. | Among Republicans, few spoke up. |
| Justin Amash, the Michigan congressman who has left the party in protest of the Trump presidency, called the tweets “racist and disgusting”. Amash’s parents are Palestinian and Syrian. Mia Love, who lost her seat in Utah last year and is African American, told CNN: “It has to stop. I always feel like I’m not part of the ‘America First’ that he goes out and he talks about all the time.” | Justin Amash, the Michigan congressman who has left the party in protest of the Trump presidency, called the tweets “racist and disgusting”. Amash’s parents are Palestinian and Syrian. Mia Love, who lost her seat in Utah last year and is African American, told CNN: “It has to stop. I always feel like I’m not part of the ‘America First’ that he goes out and he talks about all the time.” |
| Commentators from the Never Trump wing of the party were swift to condemn the president. Charlie Sykes, an editor at the Bulwark website, wrote: “There was a time when GOPers like Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham, Nikki Haley, Jeff Flake, even Reince [Priebus] would have denounced this kind of racism. Who will speak out now? Will any elected Republican push back?” | Commentators from the Never Trump wing of the party were swift to condemn the president. Charlie Sykes, an editor at the Bulwark website, wrote: “There was a time when GOPers like Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham, Nikki Haley, Jeff Flake, even Reince [Priebus] would have denounced this kind of racism. Who will speak out now? Will any elected Republican push back?” |
| On Monday, the former Ohio governor and candidate for the presidential nomination John Kasich did speak up, tweeting that what Trump “said about Democrat women in Congress is deplorable and beneath the dignity of the office. | |
| “We all, including Republicans, need to speak out against these kinds of comments that do nothing more than divide us and create deep animosity – maybe even hatred.” | |
| But senior party figures in elected office, among them Utah senator Mitt Romney, a frequent critic of the president, were silent. Some, such as Graham, instead devoted media appearances to defending Trump over images from the southern border of migrant men held in cages amid what one reporter called “sweltering” heat and “horrific” stench.’ | |
| American Carnage: a masterful must-read on Trump's Republican takeover | American Carnage: a masterful must-read on Trump's Republican takeover |
| On Monday, Graham appeared on Fox & Friends, Trump’s favourite morning show. Trump duly quoted him, pointing to the motivation for his own attack on the congresswomen by tweeting: “Make them the face of the future of the Democrat Party, you will destroy the Democrat Party. Their policies will destroy our Country!” | |
| Trump’s mentions of Israel were in reference to controversy over remarks made by Omar about foreign policy. References to “foul language” were to Tlaib’s famous promise to “impeach the motherfucker”, delivered to supporters after she was sworn into Congress in January. | |
| Trump sent his original tweets on a Sunday morning, an unsupervised time that according to a new book, American Carnage, White House staffers came to know as “the devil’s play shop”. | |
| In the same book, the former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele, who is black, echoes Tlaib when he calls Trump a “motherfucker … defiling the White House”. | |
| Trump sent his Sunday tweets before and after playing golf. On Monday he was back at the centre of American power. | Trump sent his Sunday tweets before and after playing golf. On Monday he was back at the centre of American power. |
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