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Donald Trump renews attack on Squad’s ‘filthy, hateful’ comments

Trump renews his attack on the Squad’s “vile remarks” as Congress prepares to vote on censure.

Donald Trump has lit a racial bonfire attacking four minority Congresswomen. Picture: AP.
Donald Trump has lit a racial bonfire attacking four minority Congresswomen. Picture: AP.

Declaring he does not have a racist bone in his body, Donald Trump has renewed his attack on four minority liberal congresswomen, accusing them of “spewing” the most “vile” and “hateful” comments ever uttered in Congress.

His comments came before the House of Representatives voted on a Democrat-sponsored motion condemning the president for what it called “racist comments that have legitimatized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of colour.”

Mr Trump lashed out against the motion saying the House should instead be voting to rebuke the “filthy and hate-laced comments” of the so-called Squad of congresswomen — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley.

“Those tweets were NOT racist. I don’t have a racist born in my body!”, Mr Trump tweeted in response to claims by his opponents and political commentators that his attacks in recent days on the four women of colour were racist.

He said the vote in the House was a “Democrat con game” and that Republicans should not show “weakness” by voting for it.

“This should be vote on the filthy language and lies told by the Democrat Congresswomen who I truly believe, based on their actions hate our country,’ he tweeted.

“The Democrat Congresswomen have been spewing some of the most vile, hateful, and disgusting things ever said by a politician in the House or Senate, & yet they get a pass and a big embrace from the Democrat Party.”

“Horrible anti-Israel, anti-USA, pro-terrorist & public shouting of the F … word, among many other terrible things, and the petrified Dems run for the hills.”

At a White House Cabinet meeting Mr Trump held up some papers which he said had “a list of things here said by the congresswomen that is so bad, so horrible that I almost don’t want to read it.”

MORE: Tarring moderates with radical brush | Comment: Trump plays Democrats to their own race game | Inquirer: Unlearning hatred

He claimed the Squad were deeply unpopular with the public but because the Democrat leadership had refused to rebuke them they were “forever wedded to the Democrat Party.”

From left, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, hold a press conference. Picture: AP.
From left, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, hold a press conference. Picture: AP.

One of the Squad, Ms Ocasio-Cortez, hit back at Mr Trump.

“You’re right Mr President, you don’t have a racist bone in your body. You have a racist mind in your head and a racist heart in your chest.”

For three days Mr Trump has attacked the Squad who represent the hard-left of the Democrat party and who have been fierce critics of the president, especially on his border security and immigration policies.

Although Mr Trump’s attack has been labelled racist by the Democrats and by much of the US media, Republican leaders have refused to call his comments racist.

Senator majority leader, Republican Mitch McConnell, did not specifically denounce the president’s comments but he said there was a need for everyone to cool their language.

“Political rhetoric has really gotten way, way overheated all across the political spectrum,” Senator McConnell said.

“We’ve heard facilities on the US Border called concentration camps. We’ve seen the far left throw accusations of racism at everyone. Anyone who disagrees with them on anything, including the Speaker of the House.”

House minority leader Republican Kevin McCarthy also said he did not think Mr Trump’s tweets were racist.

“I believe this is about ideology,” he said. “It’s about socialism versus freedom.”

White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway launched a fresh attack of the Squad who she said were all show and no substance.

“(They) have done squat in Congress other than pose on magazine covers and go on late-night comedy shows and cause trouble in their own caucus,” Ms Conway said.

She claimed they represented ‘a dark underbelly in this country of people who are not respecting our troops, are not giving them the resources and the respect that they deserve.”

Meanwhile Democrat presidential frontrunner Joe Biden stepped up his attack on Mr Trump over his comments.

“There has never been a President in American history who has been so openly racist and divisive as this man,’ he said.

Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia

Cameron Stewart
Cameron StewartChief International Correspondent

Cameron Stewart is the Chief International Correspondent at The Australian, combining investigative reporting on foreign affairs, defence and national security with feature writing for the Weekend Australian Magazine. He was previously the paper's Washington Correspondent covering North America from 2017 until early 2021. He was also the New York correspondent during the late 1990s. Cameron is a former winner of the Graham Perkin Award for Australian Journalist of the Year.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/donald-trump-renews-attack-on-squads-filthy-hateful-comments/news-story/eddd83557358288d06c73688a6e0c55d