WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 JULY 15: (L-R) U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks as Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) listen during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on July 15, 2019 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump stepped up attacks on the four progressive Democratic congresswomen, saying that if they\u2019re not happy in the U.S., \u201cthey can leave.\u201d Alex Wroblewski\/Getty Images\/AFP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
US President Donald Trump renewed attacks Sunday on four Democratic congresswomen he launched xenophobic tweets against last week, demanding they apologize \u201cfor the horrible (hateful) things they have said.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t believe the four Congresswomen are capable of loving our Country,\u201d Trump tweeted of ethnic-minority first-term Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey should apologize to America (and Israel) for the horrible (hateful) things they have said. They are destroying the Democrat Party, but are weak & insecure people who can never destroy our great Nation!\u201d the president tweeted.<\/p>\n
The comments come a week after Trump sparked a firestorm of outrage when he attacked the left-leaning lawmakers with a series of tweets, saying they should \u201cgo back\u201d to their countries of origin.<\/p>\n
The group \u2014 three of whom were born in the United States \u2014 are of Hispanic, Arab, Somali and African-American descent.<\/p>\n
In a rare move, Trump was rebuked by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on Tuesday for \u201cracist comments\u201d against the women, who are known as the \u201cSquad.\u201d<\/p>\n
The following day chants of \u201cSend her back!\u201d broke out at the president\u2019s \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d rally in Greenville, North Carolina, when he again attacked the women.<\/p>\n
To the delight of his thousands of supporters, Trump described Omar and the other Democrats as \u201cleft-wing ideologues (who) see our nation as a force of evil.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speech paused for chants\u00a0<\/strong>Trump later said there was \u201cgreat energy\u201d at the rally but claimed he was not pleased by the taunts.<\/p>\n\u201cI was not happy when I heard that chant,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t like that they did it, and I started speaking quickly\u201d to move on with his speech.<\/p>\nTelevision footage showed, however, that Trump let the chant continue for more than 13 seconds, only resuming speaking as they died down.<\/p>\nThe president demonstrated in Greenville that without a Democratic presidential candidate to focus on yet, he plans to make inflammatory attacks on the Squad a centerpiece of his 2020 re-election strategy.<\/p>\nSeveral of the Democratic presidential hopefuls who plan to run against him and a few of the Republicans have urged Trump to tone down the rhetoric.<\/p>\nBut the president has made it clear \u2014 despite the risk of inflaming racial tensions and widening the partisan divide \u2014 that he believes he has latched on to a winning strategy.<\/p>\nTrump tapped into grievances among white blue-collar and rural Americans to eke out a narrow victory in 2016, winning 57 percent of white voters while his rival Hillary Clinton won 37 percent.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cI was not happy when I heard that chant,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t like that they did it, and I started speaking quickly\u201d to move on with his speech.<\/p>\n
Television footage showed, however, that Trump let the chant continue for more than 13 seconds, only resuming speaking as they died down.<\/p>\n
The president demonstrated in Greenville that without a Democratic presidential candidate to focus on yet, he plans to make inflammatory attacks on the Squad a centerpiece of his 2020 re-election strategy.<\/p>\n
Several of the Democratic presidential hopefuls who plan to run against him and a few of the Republicans have urged Trump to tone down the rhetoric.<\/p>\n
But the president has made it clear \u2014 despite the risk of inflaming racial tensions and widening the partisan divide \u2014 that he believes he has latched on to a winning strategy.<\/p>\n
Trump tapped into grievances among white blue-collar and rural Americans to eke out a narrow victory in 2016, winning 57 percent of white voters while his rival Hillary Clinton won 37 percent.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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