President Trump doubled down Monday after taking heavy
fire for inflammatory
tweets calling on Democratic congresswomen to "go back"
to where they came from … as he called on those same lawmakers to
"apologize" and chastised the party for defending them.
"When will the Radical Left Congresswomen apologize
to our Country, the people of Israel and even to the Office of the President,
for the foul language they have used, and the terrible things they have
said," Trump tweeted Monday. "So many people are angry at them &
their horrible and disgusting actions."
He continued: "If Democrats want to unite around the
foul language & racist hatred spewed from the mouths and actions of these
very unpopular & unrepresentative Congresswomen, it will be interesting to
see how it plays out. I can tell you that they have made Israel feel abandoned
by the U.S."
Infighting between the Democratic establishment led by
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and young progressives led by Rep. Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., effectively paused Sunday when they united to
condemn the president's Twitter broadside as racist. The offending tweets had
said "Democrat Congresswomen" should go back and fix the
"corrupt" and "crime infested places" they came from
and then "come back and show us how it's done."
Those women, Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Rashida Tlaib,
D-Mich., Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., had
recently been at odds with Pelosi, with Ocasio-Cortez accusing the speaker of
targeting young women of color in Congress with dismissive comments she made in
a New York Times interview.
But Pelosi came to their defense after Trump's tweets.
"When @realDonaldTrump tells four
American Congresswomen to go back to their countries, he reaffirms his plan to
'Make America Great Again' has always been about making America white
again," she tweeted Sunday. "Our diversity is our strength and our
unity is our power."
Trump appeared
unbowed Sunday night, suggesting it was "so sad" to see Democrats
sticking up for the lawmakers.
"So sad to see the Democrats sticking up for people
who speak so badly of our Country and who, in addition, hate Israel with a true
and unbridled passion. Whenever confronted, they call their adversaries,
including Nancy Pelosi, 'RACIST,'" Trump tweeted. "Their disgusting language... and
the many terrible things they say about the United States must not be allowed
to go unchallenged."
He continued, "If the Democrat Party wants to
continue to condone such disgraceful behavior, then we look even more forward
to seeing you at the ballot box in 2020!"
Trump's mentions of Israel are likely in reference
to multiple comments made by Omar, who was chastised by Republicans for
tweeting messages with anti-Semitic tropes. The "disgusting language"
may have been referring to Tlaib, who said upon taking office, "We're
going to impeach the motherf-----."
Fox News' Frank Miles contributed to this report.
