MENU

Congresswomen of colour slam Donald Trump for racist attack against Democrats

SNS

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Photo: Facebook/@OcasioCortez)


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman to serve in the US Congress, along with her ‘squad’, has slammed President Donald Trump for falsely implying that she and the other freshman House Democrats were not natural-born American citizens.

On Sunday, Trump in a series of tweets said: “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 US, 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 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.”

Although Donald Trump did not name anyone in his tweets, he had last week referenced Ocasio-Cortez, the New York Representative, when he was defending Pelosi. He further mentioned in his tweet that Pelosi would happily organise for the Congresswomen to leave the country.

The references to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – made a clear link. A week ago, Ms Pelosi clashed with the four women- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar, who came to the US as a refugee aged 12 – sometimes nicknamed ‘the squad’.

However, post the tweet episode, she has come to their defence on the social media platform.

In response to the President’s tweets, Rashida Tlaib, congresswoman for Michigan’s 13th district, tweeted calling for Trump’s impeachment. “Want a response to a lawless and complete failure of a president? He is the crisis. His dangerous ideology is the crisis. He needs to be impeached,” she wrote.

Ilhan Omar, the Congresswoman from Minnesota, told the president that he was “stoking white nationalism because you are angry that people like us are serving in Congress and fighting against your hate-filled agenda”.

And Presley, the first black woman to be elected to the Boston City Council and the Congresswoman from Massachusetts shared a screenshot of the President Donald Trump’s tweet, adding: “THIS is what racism looks like. WE are what democracy looks like. And we’re not going anywhere. Except back to DC to fight for the families you marginalize and vilify everyday.”

Ocasio-Cortez, who was born to a Puerto Rican family, also took to Twitter on Sunday night, said that the “the country where I ‘come from’ and the country we all swear to, is the United States”.

Trump’s tweets came after a group of Democrats, who are women of colour, testified last week in front of a House Oversight and Reform committee hearing, explaining what they saw during their tour of the facilities housing migrants amid a border crisis.

Omar is the first Somali-American, the first naturalized citizen from Africa, the first non-white woman elected from Minnesota and one of the first two Muslim women (along with Tlaib) to serve in Congress.

Democrats candidates for Presidential nominations, including Bernie Sanders, have also condemned the tweet episode from the President and called Donald Trump, a racist, “When I call the president a racist, this is what I’m talking about.. We must stand together for justice and dignity towards all.”

Also Read