Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lashed out at President Trump, who tweeted that she and three other congresswomen of color should “go back” to their “broken and crime infested” countries, pointing out that she was born in the United States.
“Mr. President, the country I ‘come from,’ & the country we all swear to, is the United States,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Sunday.
The freshman representative from New York, along with Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, belong to the group of progressive Democratic congresswomen that Trump referred to in a Sunday Twitter thread, saying, “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”
“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,” Trump tweeted.
“Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” his thread continued. “Then come back and show us how it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!”
The women were all born in the United States, except for Omar, who became a refugee at age 10 when a brutal civil war devastated Somalia, a predominantly Muslim country in East Africa. Five years after entering the U.S., Omar was eligible for citizenship and in 2000 became a citizen at 19.
“You are angry because you don’t believe in an America where I represent New York 14, where the good people of Minnesota elected @IlhanMN, where @RashidaTlaib fights for Michigan families, where @AyannaPressley champions little girls in Boston,” said Ocasio-Cortez, who has the same birthplace as Trump’s father. “You are angry because you can’t conceive of an America that includes us. You rely on a frightened America for your plunder.”
She continued: “But you know what’s the rub of it all, Mr. President? On top of not accepting an America that elected us, you cannot accept that we don’t fear you, either. You can’t accept that we will call your bluff & offer a positive vision for this country. And that’s what makes you seethe.”
Omar, the first-ever Somali-American in Congress and the first hijab-wearing Muslim member of the House, also responded to Trump, tweeting, “Mr. President, As Members of Congress, the only country we swear an oath to is the United States. Which is why we are fighting to protect it from the worst, most corrupt and inept president we have ever seen.”
“You are stoking white nationalism [because] you are angry that people like us are serving in Congress and fighting against your hate-filled agenda,” she added.
Rep. Tlaib called for Trump’s impeachment in her response, and Pressley denounced the president’s tweets as racist, saying they came “as no suprise” as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids began across U.S. cities Sunday to detain undocumented immigrants.
“On a day when ICE is carrying out cruel raids in cities across the country - creating yet more fear and trauma in our immigrant communities - it should come as no surprise that a man who has made it his goal to dehumanize and rip apart immigrant families would so brazenly display the racism that drives his policies,” the Massachusetts lawmaker said in an emailed statement to Yahoo News. “Congresswoman Omar, Congresswoman Tlaib, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and I represent four of the most diverse districts in America, and his attacks illustrate his disgraceful lack of respect for the millions of people we collectively represent.”
While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was accused by Ocasio-Cortez of “singling out” women of color in an ongoing feud between House progressives and the Democratic establishment over a border spending bill, the party leader also rejected Trump’s “xenophobic comments meant to divide our nation.”
Pelosi defended the women in her camp, saying “When @realDonaldTrump tells four American Congresswomen to go back to their countries, he reaffirms his plan to ‘Make America Great Again’ has always been about making America white again.”
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