July 19, 2019

Trump Attacks Omar Even as He Claims to Disapprove of “Send Her Back” Chants

Another clear signal that the president is far from done with his racist attacks.

Olivier Douliery/ZUMA

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Less than a day after attempting to disavow the “send her back” chants that erupted at his North Carolina rally, President Donald Trump on Friday returned to targeting Rep. Ilhan Omar, once again accusing the Minnesota congresswomen of hating the United States.

The newest attack made it clear that despite claiming to distance himself from the racist refrain, Trump is set to continue smearing the four Democratic congresswomen of color—Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib—he has repeatedly demanded “go back” to their “crime-infested” countries this week.

The president’s commitment to pummeling the congresswomen had been immediately apparent even in Trump’s so-called disavowal on Thursday when he claimed that he “was not happy” with the chant and that he had stopped his supporters from chanting it “very quickly.” (Videos of the rally show Trump embracing the chant and waiting more than ten seconds to continue with his prepared remarks.)

Trump on Friday also hit back at Democrats who have condemned his ongoing racist attacks, framing their outrage as both unhinged and unfair.

In lashing out at Omar, Trump also felt compelled to compare the crowd size of Wednesday’s rally in Greenville, North Carolina to the size of the group of supporters that welcomed Omar as she returned to Minnesota Thursday night. “Welcome home, Ilhan!” the crowd cheered as she arrived at the airport.

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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