House Democrats move to condemn Trump’s tweets

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended the controversial tweets he posted over the weekend about several liberal congresswomen. “Those Tweets were NOT Racist,” Trump tweeted. “I don’t have a Racist bone in my body! The so-called vote to be taken is a Democrat con game.” House Democrats are prepared to vote on a resolution Tuesday condemning his statements.

The controversy flared up Sunday when the president tweeted that several Democratic lawmakers “who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe” should not be telling the United States “how our government is to be run.” Trump was referring to Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, who were feuding with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., over the influence of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Omar, who immigrated from Somalia, is the only one of the four congresswomen who was born outside of the United States.

Omar, at a news conference Monday, accused the president of trying to distract Americans from his immigration policies and called for Democrats to begin impeachment proceedings. “He’s launching a blatantly racist attack on four duly elected members of the United States House of Representatives,” she said. “This is the agenda of white nationalists.”

Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, called the remarks “racist and xenophobic,” and several Republican lawmakers urged Trump to disavow the comments. “It’s also behavior that’s unbecoming of the leader of the free world,” Hurd said Monday. “He should be talking about things that unite, not divide us.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., defended Trump on Tuesday and said rebukes by Democrats were all about politics. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would push for a vote on the resolution condemning the president’s tweets in the upper chamber.