Trump continues Twitter spat with ‘The Squad’

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump continued to feud Monday with four Democratic congresswomen despite the backlash to his initial salvo against them eight days ago. Referring to Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Trump tweeted Monday, “The ‘Squad’ is a very Racist group of troublemakers who are young, inexperienced, and not very smart. They are pulling the once great Democrat Party far left, and were against humanitarian aid at the Border … And are now against ICE and Homeland Security. So bad for our Country!”

The feud broke out July 14 when Trump tweeted that the women should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” Omar, who immigrated from Somalia, is the only one of the four who was born outside of the United States.

Democrats quickly denounced his remarks as racist and passed a measure in the House of Representatives to formally condemn the president’s tweets. Some Republican politicians also criticized his comments, while attendees at a campaign rally Tuesday in North Carolina chanted, “Send her back!” in support. Trump later denounced the chant, saying he was “not happy with it.”

The Washington Post reported Sunday that the White House and Republican lawmakers pushed the president to reframe his comments to focus on the views of Democrats on socialism and Israel and stay away from race and ethnicity. Trump denied the report on Twitter Monday, calling it “Fake News” and saying the story “had no sources.” He added, “The facts remain the same, that we have 4 Radical Left Congresswomen who have said very bad things about Israel & our Country!”

Meanwhile, the congresswomen have continued to push back against the president’s remarks. “They sent me back to Queens—and I’m happy to be here,” Ocasio-Cortez said at a town hall meeting with constituents on Friday in New York, adding, “Once you start telling American citizens to go back to your own countries, this tells you that this president’s policies are not about immigration, it’s about ethnicity and racism.”