Rep. Ayanna Pressley said "the racism that drives his policies" was on display in a series of tweets from President Donald Trump on Sunday in which he suggested that certain congresswomen, all of whom are women of color, should not criticize the U.S. government.
On Sunday morning, Trump tweeted that it was "so interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose government 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," he wrote on Twitter.
In response, Pressley characterized the comments as racist and disrespectful.
“On a day when ICE is carrying out cruel raids in cities across the country – creating yet more fear and trauma in our immigrant communities – it should come as no surprise that a man who has made it his goal to dehumanize and rip apart immigrant families would so brazenly display the racism that drives his policies,” Pressley said in a statement to WGBH News.
Trump said on Friday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials would launch nation-wide raids on Sunday in select major cities aiming to detain up to 2,000 undocumented immigrants with deportation orders. No arrests have been reported yet.
Pressley, an African-American who was born in Ohio, is one of four vocal, progressive freshmen representatives known collectively as “the squad.” Two others, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, were both born in the United States. Ocasio-Cortez is of Puerto Rican descent. Tlaib is Muslim, and of Palestinian descent. The fourth, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, was born in Somalia and is the first Somali-American member of Congress. All four have been critical of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
“Congresswoman Omar, Congresswoman Tlaib, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and I represent four of the most diverse districts in America, and the President’s attacks illustrate his abhorrent lack of respect for the hundreds of thousands of people we represent,” said Pressley’s statement.
The social media strife follows a week of public tension between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the squad. Pelosi, who also took to Twitter, suggested a united front among House Democrats, and characterized the president’s comments as "xenophobic" and divisive.
“When [Trump] tells four American Congresswomen to go back to their countries, he reaffirms his plan to ‘Make America Great Again’ has always been about making America white again,” Pelosi tweeted. “Our diversity is our strength and our unity is our power.”
On Twitter, Pressley wrote in response to Trump that the progressive congresswomen are not going anywhere except "back to DC to fight for the families you marginalize and vilify everyday."
