President Trump doubled down Monday after taking heavy fire for inflammatory tweets calling on Democratic congresswomen to “go back” to where they came from — even though most of his intended targets were born in America — as he called on those same lawmakers to “apologize,” alleged they “hate” America and chastised the party for defending them.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump also denied that his tweets were racist and said: “If someone doesn’t like our country, if someone doesn’t want to be in our country, they should leave.”
He continued: “These are people that hate our country. … They hate it, I think, with a passion.”
HILLARY CLINTON ATTACKS TRUMP OVER TWEET AIMED AT PROGRESSIVE CONGRESSWOMENVideo
In a contentious exchange with the press at a White House economic event, Trump made clear that his criticism was aimed at freshman congresswomen like Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. He alleged Omar in particular “hates Israel, hates Jews” and even suggested she has “love” for enemies like Al Qaeda.
The comments escalate an already raging battle between Trump and congressional Democrats, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announcing a resolution to formally condemn his remarks she called “xenophobic.” – READ MORE