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Trump Disavows ‘Send Her Back’ Chant as G.O.P. Frets Over Ugly Phrase Trump Disavows ‘Send Her Back’ Chant as G.O.P. Frets Over Ugly Phrase
(about 7 hours later)
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Thursday disavowed the “send her back” chant that broke out at his re-election rally Wednesday night when he railed against a Somali-born congresswoman, as Republicans in Congress rushed to distance themselves and their party from the ugly refrain. WASHINGTON — Nervous Republicans, from senior members of Congress to his own daughter Ivanka, urged President Trump on Thursday to repudiate the “send her back” chant directed at a Somali-born congresswoman during his speech the night before at a rally in North Carolina, amid widespread fears that the rally had veered into territory that could hurt their party in 2020.
Mr. Trump said he was “not happy” with the chant, directed at Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a hijab-wearing freshman Democrat whom the president has singled out repeatedly for verbal excoriation. On Thursday he claimed that he had tried to cut off the chant, an assertion contradicted by video of the event. Asked why he did not stop it, Mr. Trump said, “I think I did — I started speaking very quickly.” In response, Mr. Trump disavowed the behavior of his own supporters in comments to reporters at the White House and claimed that he had tried to contain it, an assertion clearly contradicted by video of the event.
In fact, as the crowd roared “send her back,” Mr. Trump looked around silently and paused as the scene unfolded in front of him, doing nothing to halt the chorus. Mr. Trump said he was “not happy” with the chant directed at Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a freshman Democrat who is Muslim. At the rally Wednesday evening, he had been in the middle of denouncing her as an anti-American leftist who has spoken in “vicious, anti-Semitic screeds” when the chant was taken up by the crowd.
“I was not happy with it,” Mr. Trump said on Thursday at the White House. “I disagree with it.” Pressed on why he did not stop it, Mr. Trump said, “I think I did — I started speaking very quickly.” In fact, as the crowd roared “send her back,” Mr. Trump paused and looked around silently for more than 10 seconds as the scene unfolded in front of him, doing nothing to halt the chorus. “I didn’t say that,” he added. “They did.”
“I didn’t say that,” he added. “They did.” Mr. Trump’s cleanup attempt reflected the misgivings of political allies who have warned him privately that however much his hard-core supporters in the arena might have enjoyed the moment, the president was playing with political fire, according to people briefed on the conversations.
Mr. Trump’s effort to dissociate himself from his own supporters reflected the misgivings of his allies, who have flooded the upper echelons of his team with expressions of concern in the wake of a rally that veered into ugly nativist territory. They warned privately that the president was on dangerous ground, according to people briefed on the conversations. Among them were House Republican leaders, who pleaded with Vice President Mike Pence to distance the party from the message embraced by the crowd in Greenville, N.C. Mr. Pence conveyed that message directly to Mr. Trump, according to people familiar with the exchange.
Among them were House Republican leaders, who pleaded with Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday morning to separate the party from the message embraced by the crowd in Greenville, N.C. “That does not need to be our campaign call, like we did the ‘lock her up’ last time,” said Representative Mark Walker, Republican of North Carolina, a top official in the party’s messaging arm, referring to the chant that routinely broke out whenever Mr. Trump mentioned Hillary Clinton at gatherings of his supporters during the 2016 campaign. Midway through that campaign, Mr. Trump told reporters he did not approve of that chant, but he never intervened on the many occasions it occurred.
“That does not need to be our campaign call, like we did the ‘lock her up’ last time,” said Representative Mark Walker, Republican of North Carolina, a top official in the party’s messaging arm, who attended the rally and tweeted hours later that he had “struggled” with the chant. “We cannot be defined by this.” Mr. Walker, who attended the rally on Wednesday night, later posted on Twitter that he had “struggled” with the chant. “We cannot be defined by this,” he said.
Still, while they denounced the chant, Republican leaders declined to criticize Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump’s inner circle immediately appreciated the gravity of the rally scene and quickly urged him to repudiate the chant. Ms. Trump, his elder daughter and senior adviser, spoke to the president about it on Thursday morning before he left the White House residence, the people familiar with the discussions said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Congressional Republicans have struggled all week to respond to Mr. Trump’s attacks on Ms. Omar, one of the first two Muslim women elected to the House, and three other Democratic congresswomen of color who he tweeted over the weekend should “go back” to their countries. Now they must contend with the nativist fervor of his supporters as captured in the frenzied moment in North Carolina, with a rageful refrain that they worry could further damage their party’s brand. The retreat by Mr. Trump reflects a larger issue for Republicans as they devise a strategy for the election. There is wide agreement in the party that branding Democrats as radicals in favor of open borders and grandiose proposals like the Green New Deal could be a powerful argument in their attempt to hold the White House and make further inroads in Congress.
But while Ms. Omar and her fellow progressives who make up “the squad” — Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna S. Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan — are particularly good embodiments of that radicalism for Republicans, there is also concern that suggesting they leave the country makes the argument too personal and could backfire.
Mr. Trump’s freewheeling campaign rallies — at which he aims for maximum entertainment value by testing boundaries and breaking taboos, all while his enthusiastic supporters egg him on with cheers and chants — encourage that kind of language. The feedback loop is so familiar by now that Mr. Trump’s staff, fearing something like what wound up happening on Wednesday night, explicitly warned him before the rally that the crowd would follow his lead as he spoke about Ms. Omar and to be careful not to let things spin out of control.
Even before Wednesday’s rally, his aides and advisers had spent days trying to manage the fallout from the president’s initial Sunday tweets calling on the four Democratic congresswomen who he said “originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe” to “go back” and “help fix” them.
All of them are American citizens, and all but Ms. Omar, a Somali refugee, were born in the United States.
Many of Mr. Trump’s advisers immediately recognized that the tweets had crossed a new line, and they expected him to walk them back at the beginning of the week. But he did the opposite over the next few days, renewing his call for the women to leave the United States. The charge that his tweets were racist “doesn’t concern me,” the president said, “because many people agree with me.”
Those people included Mr. Trump’s defenders on Fox News, like the prime-time host Tucker Carlson, who has repeatedly denounced Ms. Omar while defending the president against the charge of racism.
After the rally, Mr. Trump made no mention of any concern. “Just returned to the White House from the Great State of North Carolina. What a crowd, and what great people,” he tweeted.
Congressional Republicans, who offered only muted protest over the president’s initial remarks about the congresswomen, recognized that the spectacle in Greenville demanded a more vocal response. Some suggested that the episode, with its intimations of political persecution and even physical force, had violated sacred democratic norms.
“Those chants have no place in our party or our country,” Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican leader, told reporters.“Those chants have no place in our party or our country,” Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican leader, told reporters.
Those were almost the exact words used by Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the chairman of the House Republican campaign arm, earlier Thursday, when he repudiated the chant, but insisted that the Twitter posts that inspired the slogan had been mere mistakes of wording. Even as they denounced the crowd’s chant, however, Republican leaders on Thursday declined to criticize Mr. Trump personally.
“There’s no place for that kind of talk,” Mr. Emmer said at a breakfast with reporters in Washington where he was asked about the chant. “I don’t agree with that.” “There’s no place for that kind of talk,” Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota said to reporters in Washington after being asked about the chant.
“There’s not a racist bone in the president’s body,” he added, referring to Mr. Trump’s tweets. “What he was trying to say, he said wrong.” But, he added, “There’s not a racist bone in the president’s body.”
Still, Mr. Trump’s inner circle seemed to appreciate the gravity of the scene on Wednesday night and urge him to quickly repudiate the chant. Ivanka Trump, his daughter and senior adviser, talked to the president about it on Thursday morning, the people familiar with the discussions said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge them.
[The painful roots of Mr. Trump’s “go back” comment.”][The painful roots of Mr. Trump’s “go back” comment.”]
Ms. Omar, a Somalian refugee, called Mr. Trump a “fascist,” but said there was nothing new about his behavior or the response of his supporters. She cited his years of false claims that Barack Obama was not born in the United States.
“He does that every single day, and it’s no different,” Ms. Omar said at the Capitol. “What I’m going to be busy doing is uplifting people, and making sure they understand: Here in this country we are all Americans, we are all welcome, irregardless of what he says.”
Even the House’s chaplain, the Rev. Patrick J. Conroy, could not help but join the fray. He opened the House’s session on Thursday with a pointed prayer: “This has been a difficult and contentious week in which darker spirits seem to have been at play in the people’s house. In your most holy name, I now cast out all spirits of darkness from this chamber, spirits not from you.”
Mr. Walker said he had raised the issue with Mr. Pence at a breakfast on Thursday, saying the chant was “something that we want to address early,” before it became a staple of the president’s arena-style rallies. “We felt like this was going to be part of our discussion, to make sure that we are not defined by that.”Mr. Walker said he had raised the issue with Mr. Pence at a breakfast on Thursday, saying the chant was “something that we want to address early,” before it became a staple of the president’s arena-style rallies. “We felt like this was going to be part of our discussion, to make sure that we are not defined by that.”
The repudiation of the chant was widespread, but it was anything but clear whether the condemnations would have any impact on the president’s crowds in the future. Some of Mr. Trump’s Republican allies defended him against charges of racism while justifying his attacks on Ms. Omar.
“The ‘send her back’ chants were wrong, vile, and don’t reflect who we are as Americans,” Matt Brooks, the executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, wrote on Twitter. “I strongly oppose @IlhanMN views and policies but those chants have no place in our society.” “I don’t think it’s racist to say,” Graham told reporters. “I don’t think a Somali refugee embracing Trump would be asked to go back. If you’re racist, you want everybody to go back because they are black or Muslim. That’s not what this is about. What this is about to me is that these four congresswomen, in their own way, have been incredibly provocative.”
At least one civil rights group, Muslim Advocates, said Wednesday that Mr. Trump’s tweets and language were endangering the lives of Ms. Omar and Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, the other Muslim woman elected to Congress in November. Ms. Omar responded on Thursday by calling Mr. Trump a “fascist,” but said there was nothing new about his behavior or the response of his supporters. She cited his years of false claims that Barack Obama was not born in the United States.
“The president’s open, calculated, anti-Muslim bigotry is something we expect to see much more of throughout the 2020 campaign,” Madihha Ahussain, the group’s special counsel for anti-Muslim bigotry, said in a statement. “All Americans, including all Democrats and Republicans, should unequivocally and immediately disavow this hatred.” “He does that every single day, and it’s no different,” Ms. Omar said at the Capitol. “What I’m going to be busy doing is uplifting people, and making sure they understand: Here in this country, we are all Americans, we are all welcome, regardless of what he says.”
Mr. Trump tweets on Sunday targeted Ms. Omar and Ms. Tlaib, as well as Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ayanna S. Pressley of Massachusetts. All of them are American citizens. House Democratic leaders said they were working to develop higher-level security protocols for Ms. Omar and her three colleagues, especially given an onslaught of threatening material on social media, where white nationalists have praised the president’s statements and the hashtag #SendHerBack was trending Thursday on Twitter.
“This president is evolving, as predicted, deeper into the rhetoric of racism, which evolves into violence,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday. She said she was worried for her safety and that House Democrats were discussing how to address security concerns that have stemmed from Mr. Trump’s targeting of their members. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez told reporters on Thursday she was worried for her safety. Ms. Omar did not express concern for her own safety, but worried aloud about fellow Muslim immigrants.
Ms. Omar did not express concern for her own safety, but she worried about fellow Muslim immigrants. “What I am scared for is the safety of people who share my identity,” said Ms. Omar, who has stood out in Congress with colorful head coverings. “When you have a president who clearly thinks someone like me should go back, the message that he is sending is not for me, it is for every single person who shares my identity.”
“What I am scared for is the safety of people who share my identity,” said Ms. Omar, who has stood out visually in Congress with colorful head coverings that make her unique in the Capitol. “When you have a president who clearly thinks someone like me should go back, the message that he is sending is not for me, it is for every single person who shares my identity.” The latest criticism of Mr. Trump’s language comes two days after the House took the remarkable step of passing a resolution condemning his tweets and asserting that they were “racist comments that legitimized and increased hatred of new Americans and people of color.” Only four Republicans voted yes. All others, including Mr. Emmer and Mr. Walker, voted no.
Mr. Emmer tried to minimize the president’s initial remarks. Hours before the president’s rally, the House killed an attempt to impeach Mr. Trump for the statements. But on Thursday morning, his race- and ethnicity-based insults were cited by Representative Peter Welch of Vermont, the latest Democrat to call for impeachment, as one piece of evidence that his presidency has “wrought an unprecedented and unrelenting assault on the pillars and guardrails of our democracy.”
“What he was trying to say is that if you don’t appreciate this country, you don’t have to be here,” Mr. Emmer said. He quoted a constituent who told him that Ms. Omar’s statements led people to believe that she hated America, adding, “How about a little gratitude with that attitude?”
The latest criticism of Mr. Trump’s language comes two days after the House took the remarkable step of passing a resolution condemning his tweets and asserting that they were “racist comments that legitimized and increased hatred of new Americans and people of color.” Only four Republicans voted yes. All others, including the House leaders who expressed concern to Mr. Pence on Thursday about the chant, voted “no.”
Hours before the chant broke out at the president’s re-election rally, the House killed an attempt by Representative Al Green, Democrat of Texas, to impeach Mr. Trump for the statements, which he said had sullied the office of the president.
But on Thursday morning, his race- and ethnicity-based insults were cited by Representative Peter Welch of Vermont, the latest Democrat to call for impeachment, as one piece of evidence that his presidency has, “wrought an unprecedented and unrelenting assault on the pillars and guardrails of our democracy.”
“Instead of embracing the fundamental responsibility of every American president to unite our country, this president has unleashed a torrent of attacks on fellow citizens based on their race, gender, religion and ethnic origin,” Mr. Welch said in a statement.