'I don't have a Racist bone in my body!' Trump doubles down on tweets telling AOC's 'pro-terrorist' squad to leave the country and slams them for 'spewing vile, hateful, and disgusting things' as he attacks House Democrats in Twitter tirade for not 'taking them on'

  • Trump defended himself against charges of racism, after tweeting that four first-term congresswomen, all minorities, should 'go back where they came from'
  • The four are Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortex, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressly and Rashida Tlaib 
  • 'Those Tweets were NOT Racist,' the president wrote on Twitter. 'I don’t have a Racist bone in my body!' 
  • AOC shot back of Trump: 'He's got a racist brain in his head' 
  • Trump also insisted that a planned vote of condemnation against him was a 'con game' that would backfire on Democrats 
  • House is voting Tuesday evening on a resolution condemning Trump's tweets 
  • The move will force Republicans on the record about their feelings on the president's tweets 
  • The resolution comes six months after House Democrats passed a watered-down resolution condemning 'hate' after anti-Semitic comments from Omar  

Donald Trump defended himself on Tuesday against widespread charges of racism but doubled down on tweeted claims that a group of four minority Democratic congresswomen hate the United States and should leave. 

He also insisted that a planned vote in the House of Representatives to condemn his tweets is a 'con game' that will backfire on Democrats as their party is linked more closely with the quartet of lawmakers known in D.C. as 'the squad.'

'Those Tweets were NOT Racist,' the president wrote on Twitter. '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.'

One of those lawmakers, Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, vowed in January that Democrats would 'impeach the motherf***er.' She re-upped that pledge just days ago, but censored her language to 'M-Fer.' 

The president blasted Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar on Monday as an anti-American Somali and has tangled repeatedly with New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Donald Trump blasted House Democrats for refusing to condemn Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her 'the squad' for the 'vile, hateful' things they've said,playing offense as charges of racism flew around the nation

Donald Trump blasted House Democrats for refusing to condemn Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her 'the squad' for the 'vile, hateful' things they've said,playing offense as charges of racism flew around the nation

Trump defended himself Tuesday against charges of racism, after he tweeted that a quartet of first-term congresswomen, all minorities, should leave the U.S. and 'go back where they came from'; and he insisted that a planned vote of condemnation against him was a 'con game' that would backfire on Democrats

Trump defended himself Tuesday against charges of racism, after he tweeted that a quartet of first-term congresswomen, all minorities, should leave the U.S. and 'go back where they came from'; and he insisted that a planned vote of condemnation against him was a 'con game' that would backfire on Democrats

'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!' Trump tweeted Tuesday. 

Ocasio-Cortez hit Trump back with a tweet of her own. 

'You’re right, Mr. President - you don’t have a racist bone in your body. You have a racist mind in your head, and a racist heart in your chest. That’s why you violate the rights of children and tell the Congresswoman who represents your home borough, to “go back to my country,"' she wrote. 

And the New York Democrat told TMZ she never a met a racist who admitted to being a racist.

'I think he's got a racist brain in his head. I think he's got a racist heart in his chest. And I have never personally met a racist that admitted to being a racist,' she said. 

Republicans on Capitol Hill walked a careful tightrope of balancing their defense of their president without getting into the substance of his tweets.

Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the highest-ranking GOP woman in the House, said their criticism of liberals 'has absolutely nothing to do with their gender, with their religion, or with their race, it has to do with the content of their policy.'

And House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said he would encourage members of his party to vote against the Democrats' resolution condemning Trump's tweets, arguing it was 'all politics.' 

'I will vote against this resolution if you're asking,' McCarthy said Tuesday at a news conference on Capitol Hill. 'It's all politics. If you look at the resolution itself and you look at the rules of the house, you can't even name the resolution on the floor. If this is the case of what they are concerned most about, let's go through every comment individuals have made on the other side of the aisle, are we bringing a resolution up on the floor about their comments? No.'

The resolution 'strongly condemns' Trump's tweets that call for the four lawmakers to go 'back where they came from.'

It is scheduled to be voted on Tuesday night. 

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway defended the president as a not a racist.

'I work with this President, I know him. I know his heart, I know his actions, I know how much he has helped people of color. And I go by what people do, not what other people say about them,' she said on Fox News. 

Trump, meanwhile, had already blasted House Democrats earlier in the morning for refusing to condemn Ocasio-Cortez and her 'squad' for the 'vile, hateful' things they've said - marking day three of his outrage against the progressive lawmakers.

'The Democrat Congresswomen have been spewing some of the most vile, hateful, and disgusting things ever said by a politician in the House or Senate, & yet they get a free pass and a big embrace from the Democrat Party. Horrible anti-Israel, anti-USA, pro-terrorist & public shouting of the F...word [sic], among many other terrible things, and the petrified Dems run for the hills' the president had tweeted.

'Why isn’t the House voting to rebuke the filthy and hate laced things they have said? Because they are the Radical Left, and the Democrats are afraid to take them on. Sad!' he added.

Trump again advised the lawmakers that they can leave the United States if they aren't pleased with the direction in which he's taking it.

'Our Country is Free, Beautiful and Very Successful. If you hate our Country, or if you are not happy here, you can leave!,' he tweeted. 

House Republican Leaders - Reps. Steve Scalise, Liz Cheney, Virginia Foxx, and Kevin McCarthy - are walking a careful tight rope of defending Trump without getting into the substance of his tweets

House Republican Leaders - Reps. Steve Scalise, Liz Cheney, Virginia Foxx, and Kevin McCarthy - are walking a careful tight rope of defending Trump without getting into the substance of his tweets

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley held a press conference on Capitol Hill Monday to rebuke the president

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley held a press conference on Capitol Hill Monday to rebuke the president

The four-page resolution from House Democrats charges the president with having 'legitimized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color.' 

Democrats held their weekly caucus meeting on Capitol Hill Tuesday morning, ahead of the Tuesday evening vote.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi rallied her troops ahead of the event and called the 'squad' her 'sisters.'

'These are our sisters. The fact is, as offended as we are, and we are offended by what he said about our sisters. He says that about people every day and they feel as hurt as we do about somebody in our family having this offence against them,' she said according to an aide in the room. 

'This is, I hope, one where we will get Republican support. If they can’t support condemning the words of the President, well that’s a message in and of itself,' she added.

Rep. Jim McGovern cautioned the lawmakers to be careful about the words they use on the House floor during debate on the resolution condemning the president as Republicans will be eager to have them taken down. 

He urged lawmakers to check with the House Parliamentarian about the exact language that should be used.  

'I’m not,' Pelosi said to which lawmakers laughed, the source said.  

There was a general consensus among the party members that Trump was intentionally stirring the pot with his tweets. 

'He knows exactly what he's doing,' said Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos. 'He's a constant distraction.'

Rep. Donna Shalala seemed resigned that the tweets would continue. 

‘I would love to move on but I don’t think the president’s going to,' she told DailyMail.com. 

But Trump complained Democrats haven't scolded their own lawmakers for comments made that perceived to be anti-Semitic and defensive of the 9/11 attacks. He also referenced the fact Tlaib - one of the 'squad' members - has said of him that she wants to 'impeach the m-fer.'

Democrats, six months ago, passed a broad resolution condemning hate speech but it didn't mention any lawmaker by name - a controversy at the time given Rep. Ilhan Omar - another 'squad' member - had made comments seen as anti-Semitic.

The Democrats' resolution condemning the president's tweets does name Donald Trump, according to text of the measure filed Monday night.

The resolution 'strongly condemns President Donald Trump's racist comments that have legitimized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color by saying that our fellow Americans who are immigrants, and those who may look to the President like immigrants, should ''go back'' to other countries, by referring to immigrants and asylum seekers as ''invaders,'' and by saying that Members of Congress who are immigrants (or those of our colleagues who are wrongly assumed to be immigrants) do not belong in Congress or in the United States of America.' 

The measure features positive statements from the country's founding fathers and past presidents on the important role immigrants play in the United States.  

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy accused the Democrats of playing politics with the issue. He defended Trump, saying the president is not a racist, but he also said the four lawmakers should not have to leave the country. 

Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the anti-Trump resolution Monday in a move designed to put Republicans on the record about their feelings on the president's tweets. 

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced there will be a companion resolution in the Senate.

'Speaker Pelosi has said that the House will introduce a resolution denouncing the president's comments. Our intention is to do the same in the Senate. We'll see. We'll see just how many Republicans will sign on,' he said on the Senate floor Monday. 

Nancy Pelosi announced House Democrats have a resolution condemning President Trump 's tweets

Nancy Pelosi announced House Democrats have a resolution condemning President Trump 's tweets

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Rep. Ilham Omar

Rep. Alyanna Pressley
Rep. Rashid Tlaib

Trump's tweets were seen as an attack on the 'squad': Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Alyanna Pressley and Rashid Tlaib

'The House cannot allow the President's characterization of immigrants to our country to stand,' Pelosi wrote to lawmakers on Monday. 

'Our Republican colleagues must join us in condemning the President's xenophobic tweets. Please join us in supporting a forthcoming resolution sponsored by Congressman Tom Malinowski, who was born abroad, and Congressman Jamie Raskin, along with other Democratic Members born abroad,' she noted. 

Malinowski was born in Poland and came to the United States at the age of six.  

Trump, meanwhile, defended his tweets in which he suggested the four congresswomen, who are of racial minorities, go 'back where they came from.'

‘All I'm saying, they want to leave, they can leave. Now, it doesn't say leave forever. It says leave if you want,’ Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House Monday afternoon.

‘They hate our country. They hate it, I think, with a passion. Now, it's possible I'm wrong. The voter will decide. But when I hear the way they talk about our country, when I hear the anti-Semitic language they use, when I hear the hatred they have for Israel and the love they have for enemies like Al Qaeda, then you know what, I will tell you that I do not believe this is good for the Democrat Party,’ he added.

'I'm not happy with them.'

He also slammed Pelosi's accusation on twitter that he wants to 'make America white again.'

'That's a very racist statement, somebody would say that. Speaker Pelosi said, "Make America white again." Let me tell you, that's a very racist statement. I'm surprised she would say that,' he said.

His tweet attack was seen as directed at Omar, Ocasio-Cortez, Alyanna Pressley and Tlaib - four young, progressive lawmakers who took office in January after winning in the 2018 wave election that gave back control of the House of Representatives to Democrats. 

They have dubbed themselves 'the squad.'

Trump was accused of a racist attack against the lawmakers, of whom only Omar was born overseas. She and her family fled war in Somalia and she is now a U.S. citizen. The rest of the lawmakers were born in the United States. 

All have called for Trump's impeachment. 

Omar and Tlaib are also the first Muslim women elected to Congress. 

The four women fired back at Trump on Monday during a press conference on Capitol Hill.

'We can either continue to enable this president and report on the bile of garbage that comes out of his mouth,' said Omar, 'or we can hold him accountable for his crimes. It is time for us to stop allowing this president to make a mockery out of our constitution. It is time for us to impeach this president.'

'I urge House leadership, many of my colleagues to take action to impeach this lawless president today,' said Tlaib. 

Shortly after she took office, a video emerged of Tlaib at a MoveOn.org event in January, vowing of Trump: 'We're going to impeach the motherf***er!' 

She reiterated that promise on Saturday when she addressed the liberal Netroots Nation conference.

'We're going to to impeach the m*fer, don't worry. We're going to impeach him,' she said to applause.   

Trump struck back at the Democrats' resolution

Trump struck back at the Democrats' resolution 

Several Republicans were slow to comment on the president's tweets.

GOP Representative Will Hurd, whose district was won by Hillary Clinton in 2016, was one of the few to call the president's words 'racist.'

'Those tweets are racist, and xenophobic... It's also behavior that's unbecoming of the leader of the free world. He should be talking about things that unite, not divide us,' he told CNN.  

And his fellow Texas Republican, Congressman Chip Roy, also condemned the president writing on Twitter that 'POTUS was wrong to say any American citizen, whether in Congress or not, has any 'home' besides the U.S.'

'But I just as strongly believe noncitizens who abuse our immigration laws should be sent home immediately, & Reps who refuse to defend America should be sent home' in the next election, he added.  

Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump alley, gently advised the president not to be personal in his attacks.

'Don't make it personal. About their policies. Not about them,' he said on 'Fox & Friends' Monday.  

Trump attack this weekend was condemned as racist.  

'Why don't they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,' Trump wrote on Twitter of ''Progressive' Democrat Congresswomen' on Sunday. '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!,' he added.

But the speaker promptly defended her members of Congress. 

'When [Trump] 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,' Pelosi tweeted. 'Our diversity is our strength and our unity is our power.'  

Pelosi's move will force Republicans on the record about Trump

Pelosi's move will force Republicans on the record about Trump

 

Omar and her family came to the United States in the early 1990s to escape the war in Somalia. She became a citizen in 2000 when she was 17 years old.

Tlaib is the daughter of two Palestinian immigrants and Ocasio-Cortez's mother is from Puerto Rico. Tlaib was born in Detroit while Ocasio-Cortez was born in the Bronx borough of New York City.

Pressley is the first African American woman elected to Congress to represent Massachusetts. She was born in Cincinnati. 

Trump's attacks united Pelosi and the members of 'the squad' in their outrage against the president.

It was a show of unity after the speaker and the four got into a feud of their own.   

The Democrats' resolution against the president comes six months after House Democrats passed a watered-down resolution condemning hate language after alleged anti-semitic comments from Omar.

Omar came under fire in March for suggesting that supporters of Israel were urging lawmakers to have 'allegiance to a foreign country.' 

And she also appeared to minimize the September 11 attacks when she noted a Muslim group was formed in its wake 'because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.'  

 

Reps. Ilham Omar and Rashida Tlaib are the first Muslim women elected to Congress

Reps. Ilham Omar and Rashida Tlaib are the first Muslim women elected to Congress

A battle broke out between the older, powerful Jewish members of Congress who accused Omar of anti-Semitism and the younger, progressive members who defended Omar's right to speak.  

Democratic leaders had hoped to dispatch with the issue quickly through a hastily written resolution condemning anti-semitism. 

But they broadened the text to include condemn Islamophobia and white supremacism after Omar's defenders said one form of hate should not be singled out. 

Minutes before the scheduled vote Democrats pulled it again, to add several groups not included in the original measure, including Latinos, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and LGBTQ community.  

Omar's name was not specifically mentioned in the 1,400 word text, which some Democrats had argued for while the congresswoman's defenders countered that would require a resolution any time a lawmaker said or tweeted something offensive. 

Republicans condemned Democrats for not calling out Omar about name.

But Pelosi defended the Minnesota congresswoman. 

'One resolution is not mentioning her name because it's not about her,' she said at the time. 

The Democratic 'squad' in Trump's Twitter firing line 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 29, New York

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Background

Known by her initials, AOC was born in The Bronx, New York City, to Puerto Rican parents. Before entering Congress, she worked for Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign and as a bartender.

Controversies

AOC caused a backlash among Israeli campaign groups for branding the IDF's response to the 2018 Gaza border flare-ups a 'massacre' and labeling Israel's presence in the West Bank an 'occupation'.

Shortly after entering the House, she slammed Trump as a 'racist' in a TV interview.

She said: 'The words he uses…are historic dog whistles of white supremacy. 

'The president certainly didn't invent racism, but he's certainly given a voice to it.'

Last month, her comments likening migrant holding facilities to 'concentration camps' sparked outrage among senior GOP figures, including House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy who demanded an apology, which AOC refused to give.

Radical policies

AOC masterminded the proposed Green New Deal, which seeks to overhaul economic inequality through a raft of public works projects and phase out fossil fuels. 

The cost of these measures have been estimated to but an eye-watering $3.9trillion on the US purse. 

It has been supported by only a handful of fellow Democrats and come under fire from Republicans.

Several high-profile Democrats such as 2020 hopeful Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have suggested that AOC's radical policies would make the party unelectable.

Ilhan Omar, 36, Minnesota

Background

Omar was born and raised in Somalia by her father after her mother died when she was two. They fled the country to escape civil war and she arrived in New York when she was 10. She was one of two Muslim women to be the first elected to Congress in 2018. 

On entering the House, she fought successfully to change its longstanding ban on head-wear, allowing her to keep her Hijab on.

Controversies

Earlier this year, she was reported to have said 'some people did something' in regards to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, prompting a backlash from Trump.

And in January, she was forced to apologize for using 'anti-Semitic tropes' after she suggested that US support for Israel stemmed from donations from a pro-Israel lobby. 

Steny Hoyer, the House Majority Leader, branded the comments 'hurtful'.

Radical policies

Omar has called for a significant reduction in military spending and 'perpetual aggression'. She also supports free tuition fees for college students.

She has rallied behind Bernie Sanders' proposal to to eliminate all $1.6 trillion in outstanding student debt by levying a 0.5 per cent tax on sales. 

Omar has also branded the current Federal minimum wage a 'poverty wage' and supports raising it to $15 per hour. 

Ayanna Pressley, 45, Massachusetts

Background

Born in Ohio but raised in Chicago, Pressley as the only child of a single mother because her father was 'in and out of prison'.

She went on to serve as Secretary of State John Kerry's political director.

She is the first African-American woman to be elected to the US Congress from Massachusetts. 

Controversies

In January, she apologized after quoting Alice Walker's book The Color Purple, saying she wasn't aware of the author's recent praise of an anti-Semitic writer. 

And recently, she implied that ethnic minorities who work for the US Customs and Border Protection some betraying their own backgrounds.

She said that they are a 'cog' in a system which is imprisoning migrants which 'look just like them'.  

And in her victory speech after her primary victory, she called President Trump: 'a racist, misogynistic, truly empathy-bankrupt man'.

Radical policies

Like most of the 'squad' Pressley supports Medicare for all by ramping up taxes as well as free education for university students. 

She is a proponent of the 'take a knee' campaign which sees sports stars kneel during the national anthem to highlight police brutality against people of color. 

Pioneered by Colin Kapernick, it has come under scrutiny by the President. 

Rashida Tlaib, 31, Michigan

Background

The oldest of 14 children, she was born in Detroit to working class Palestinian parents.

Tlaib entered the Michigan state House before being one of the first Muslim women elected to the US Congress. 

Controversies 

On the day she entered Congress, Tlaib told a group of supporters her mission was to impeach Trump, who she branded a 'motherf*****'.

And in May, Republicans accused Tlaib of spitting anti-Semitic remarks after she said talking about the Holocaust was 'calming'.

Trump tweeted: 'Rep. Tlaib is being slammed for her horrible and highly insensitive statement on the Holocaust. 

'She obviously has tremendous hatred of Israel and the Jewish people.'

But Democrats insist that she was referring to the efforts of her Palestinian ancestors in creating a safe haven for the Jewish people. 

Radical policies

She has called for the Immigration Customs Enforcement agency to be abolished and wants a $15 per hour minimum wage.

She often rallies against the super-rich and vows to protect the unions to fight against wealthy Wall Street businesses. 

She advocates scrapping the cap on what millionaires pay into the Social Security system.