Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) on Monday said she has “moved on” after President Trump said that she and three other Democratic congresswomen of color should “go back” to their home countries, even though they are all U.S. citizens.
“I’ve moved on, and the American people in my district need for me to move on,” Pressley told NBC Boston’s Alison King.
“I don’t have the time to be offended or outraged about [a] predictable pattern of hateful, bigoted rhetoric from the occupant of this White House.”
Trump on Sunday tweeted about an unnamed group of progressive Democrats “who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe.”
{mosads}In the tweets, which seemed to be directed at Pressley and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the president suggested they “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”
All four of the freshman congresswomen are U.S. citizens, and only Omar, who came to the U.S. as a refugee from Somalia, was born outside the U.S.
The comments have widely been condemned by members of the Democratic Party as racist. Republicans have also criticized the remarks but only two, Reps. Will Hurd (Texas) and Mike Turner (Ohio), went as far as calling the tweets “racist.”
Pressley initially responded that “THIS is what racism looks like. WE are what democracy looks like. And we’re not going anywhere. Except back to DC to fight for the families you marginalize and vilify everyday.”
Trump has defended his tweets as “not at all” racist.
{mosads}In the tweets, which seemed to be directed at Pressley and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the president suggested they “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”
All four of the freshman congresswomen are U.S. citizens, and only Omar, who came to the U.S. as a refugee from Somalia, was born outside the U.S.
The comments have widely been condemned by the Democratic Party as racist. Republicans have also criticized the remarks but only two, Reps. Will Hurd (Texas) and Mike Turner (Ohio), went as far as calling the tweets racist.
Pressley initially responded that “THIS is what racism looks like. WE are what democracy looks like. And we’re not going anywhere. Except back to DC to fight for the families you marginalize and vilify everyday.”
Trump has defended his tweets as “not at all” racist.