Things and Thoughts

from The Guardian 15, July

‘Do not take the bait’: congresswomen denounce Trump’s racist attack

Four Democratic women targeted by Trump accuse him of following an ‘agenda of white nationalists’ at a press conference Lauren Gambino,Ed Pilkington @laurenegambinoMon 15 Jul 2019 23.47 BST

Four Democratic congresswomen of color targeted by Donald Trump’s racist attacks have accused the US president of following an “agenda of white nationalists” and asked that Americans “do not take the bait” of his divisive rhetoric. The women – Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts – called Trump’s remarks a “blatantly racist” attack on elected leaders, and an attempt to distract from the corrupt and inhuman practices of his administration.‘You can leave’: Trump unrepentant over racist attack on congresswomen

Of the four, all are non-white and all except Ilhan Omar of Minnesota were born US citizens. Omar came to the US aged 12 as a refugee and took up American citizenship five years later. All are progressives within the Democratic party, and advocate for left-leaning policies. “This is the agenda of white nationalists, whether it is happening in chat rooms, or it is happening on national TV, and now it is reached the White House garden,” said Omar, who called this a “pivotal moment in our country “ with the “eyes of history” watching.

In his Twitter storm, Trump called on the four – who he did not name directly but clearly invoked – to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came”.

トランプのTwitterの中味は書くのも嫌だが。So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. 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! …. ……8:27 PM – 14 Jul 2019

Our Country is Free, Beautiful and Very Successful. If you hate our Country, or if you are not happy here, you can leave! 8:17 PM – 16 Jul 2019

“It is time for us to stop allowing this president to make a mockery of our Constitution,” she (Ilhan Omar) said. “It is time to impeach this president.” Ocasio-Cortez, who was born in the Bronx and is of Puerto Rican descent, said she was “not surprised” by Trump’s comments. “This president … does not know how to defend his policies and so what he does is attack us personally,” Ocasio-Cortez said. The president’s use of the “go back home” racist trope led to an immediate and explosive response, with condemnation erupting across the US and around the world. World leaders also made a rare foray into domestic US politics. “Sadly, this is not the first nor will it be the last time we hear disgusting, bigoted language from the president,” Tlaib said. “We know this is who he is.”

The out-going British prime minister Theresa May let it be known through a spokesman that she found Trump’s language with regard to the four congresswomen “completely unacceptable”. “Where are you when something this serious, this bigoted, this un-American happens?”In her remarks, Ocasio-Cortez recalled the first time she visited Washington with her father as a little girl. Sitting on the edge of the Reflecting Pool that stretched along the National Mall between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, her father told her: “All of this belongs to you.”
“I want to tell children across this country … that no matter what the president says, this country belongs to you,” she said. “Today, that notion – that very notion – was challenged.”