Democrats and several right-wing commentators were quick to denounce President Trump's Sunday tweet that four progressive Democratic congresswomen should "go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested [countries] from which they came." Now Republican lawmakers are starting to offer their own take. In a Fox News interview, Sen. Lindsey Graham had some tough words of his own for Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Ilhan Omar, calling them a "bunch of communists" who are "anti-America. ... They hate Israel. They hate our own country." Still, he advised the president to "aim higher. ... They are American citizens. They won an election. Take on their policies." More comments, including a fresh one from Trump himself:
- USA Today reports Newt Gingrich appeared on Fox & Friends and shared his perspective on Trump's motives: "I think the president believes that the more he can get the country to look at the so-called Squad, the more he can get them to realize how radical they are and how fundamentally un-American their views are, in the long run the better off he is."
- The Washington Post reports journalists on Monday asked Trump if he was worried about those who are calling his words racist. His reply: "It doesn’t concern me because many people agree with me. And all I'm saying—they want to leave, they can leave."
- Count Nancy Pelosi among those who are concerned. Politico reports the House speaker announced in a letter that Reps. Jamie Raskin and Tom Malinowksi are drafting a resolution that would condemn Trump for his tweets. "Let me be clear, our caucus will continue to forcefully respond to these disgusting attacks,” she wrote.
- Though no timing has been announced regarding a vote on the measure, the Post observes it "could unify a Democratic caucus that has been engaged an outright civil war in recent days."
- Pelosi expressed her opinion about the president—and he responded in kind. The New York Times reports that in speaking with reporters Monday, Trump referenced her Sunday comment that his "'Make America Great Again' has always been about making America white again." His reply: "So Speaker Pelosi said, 'Make America white again.' That's a very racist ... statement. I’m surprised she’d say that."
- The Dallas Morning News reports a trio of Republican Texans—Reps. Chip Roy, Will Hurd, and Pete Olson—have come out against Trump's tweets. The paper flags Olson in particular as "forcefully distanc[ing] himself from the president—a rarity for him." In a tweet Olson urged Trump to "immediately disavow his comments."
- Slate has a running list of Republicans who have weighed in thus far along with what they said. It includes Sens. Susan Collins, Roy Blunt, Mitt Romney, Pat Toomey, and Tim Scott, among others. Read it here.
- Ocasio-Cortez, meanwhile, has continued tweeting, writing Monday that Trump "telling four American Congresswomen of color 'go back to your own country,' is hallmark language of white supremacists." She weighed in on Graham's appearance on Fox, too, writing the senator "wants to bring back 1950s McCarthyism, too."
(Trump also tweeted about
the "very unpopular Congresswomen" on Monday.)
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