Rejecting Criticism, Trump Accuses Pelosi of ‘a Very Racist Statement’ - The New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Monday accused Speaker Nancy Pelosi of using racist comments, escalating his attacks on four first-term Democratic congresswomen to the leader of the Democratic Party.

Ms. Pelosi had criticized the president on Sunday for suggesting four lawmakers of color should “go back” to their own countries, and she said that his slogan, “ ‘Make America Great Again’ has always been about making America white again.”

Mr. Trump in turn accused her of racist remarks. “So Speaker Pelosi said, ‘Make America white again.’ That’s a very racist — that’s a very racist statement. I’m surprised she’d say that,” Mr. Trump said at an event celebrating American manufacturing at the White House.

Ms. Pelosi said on Monday that the House would move to officially reject President Trump’s xenophobic tweets about members of Congress just hours after the president had warned Democrats against uniting “around the foul language & racist hatred spewed” from the American women whom he recently told to “go back” to their own countries.

“Let me be clear, our caucus will continue to forcefully respond to these disgusting attacks,” Ms. Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues. “The House cannot allow the president’s characterization of immigrants to our country to stand. Our Republican colleagues must join us in condemning the president’s xenophobic tweets.”

On Monday, Mr. Trump demanded that the four congresswomen of color, Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna S. Pressley of Massachusetts, issue their own apologies to him and “the people of Israel.” Ms. Omar is the only one of the four who was born outside the United States.

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“So many people are angry at them & their horrible & disgusting actions!” he wrote.

Ms. Pelosi said the resolution, which has yet to be drafted, would make reference to a speech by Ronald Reagan in which he said that, “If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.”

Mr. Trump said his “go back” comments to the lawmakers was a suggestion that the leave the country if they disliked America so much.

Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, and Patrick Toomey, of Pennsylvania suggested the president steer clear from personal attacks and instead focus on policy.

“We all know that A.O.C. and this crowd are a bunch of communists,” Mr. Graham said on Fox News. “They hate Israel, they hate our own country.” But he also pushed back against the president’s suggestion that the women are not American.

“They are American citizens,” Mr. Graham said. “They won an election. Take on their policies. The bottom line here is this is a diverse country.”

He added, “Mr. President, you’re right about their policies. You’re right about where they will take the country. Just aim higher.”

For months there has been a rift between Ms. Pelosi and the four lawmakers, and last week tensions grew when Ms. Pelosi pointedly said they had no following in Congress. The four lawmakers, who call themselves “the squad,” opposed a $4.6 billion aid package for the border, approved by Congress, because they said it supported Mr. Trump’s immigration policies.

Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna S. Pressley of Massachusetts. President Trump has targeted them, along with Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, in Twitter attacks. — CreditAnna Moneymaker/The New York Times

[Analysis: No president in modern times has made appeals to the resentments of white Americans as overtly as President Trump.]

The tone of the president’s remarks, however, is something they agree on.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez on Monday wrote on Twitter that Mr. Trump’s language was common among white supremacists.

“Trump feels comfortable leading the GOP into outright racism, and that should concern all Americans,” she wrote.

Mr. Trump’s Twitter assault also addressed strains from earlier this year when Ms. Omar sent jolts through her own party for criticizing Israel and suggesting that supporters for Israel were pushing for “allegiance to a foreign country.”

“I can tell you that they have made Israel feel abandoned by the U.S.,” Mr. Trump wrote in one of his tweets.

Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, said Mr. Trump’s use of Israel in his comments hurts the Jewish community.

“He doesn’t speak for any of us,” Mr. Greenblatt wrote in a Twitter post on Monday. “We call on ALL leaders across the political spectrum to condemn these racist, xenophobic tweets & using Jews as a shield.”

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