President Donald Trump insists he doesn’t have a racist bone in his body, but others say his “go back to Africa” tweets went too far this time.
Trump’s tweets were directed at Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the four freshman House Democrats who are doing battle with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the older establishment Democrats in the House of Representatives.
Trump took Pelosi’s side in her battle against the Squad, who don’t hide their disdain for Pelosi or Trump.
In one tweet that sparked a firestorm of controversy on Sunday, Trump told Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and the other three lawmakers to go back to Africa and fix the problems there if they hate America.
“Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!”
READ ALSO: Trump Tells Rep. Ilhan Omar ‘Go Back to Africa’
On Tuesday, Trump defended his actions, saying “Those Tweets were NOT Racist. I don’t have a Racist bone in my body!”
But many argue that Trump should know that a native already divided by his inflammatory language would view his tweets as racist.
“His tweet will not live in infamy, but his cringe-worthy ‘go back’ language rhymes with many of his earlier self-inflicted mistakes,” writes NY Post columnist Michael Goodwin.
“[B]y telling them to ‘go back,’ he gave his divided opponents a fresh reason to unite against him,” Goodwin writes.
Goodwin suggested that Trump apologize – something he never does – at least not publicly.
“In short, Trump has everything to gain and nothing to lose by doing what he can to hush the hysteria,” says Goodwin. “Besides, eating a little crow now is better than having to swallow the whole bird later.”
Photos by Joshua Roberts/Getty Images, Win McNamee/Getty Images
