Four congresswomen targeted in Trump’s tweets vow they won’t be silenced

Reporting from Washington —  Four liberal House Democrats on Monday lambasted President Trump’s tweets as “xenophobic,” “bigoted” and unworthy of the White House in an unusual standoff between first-year House lawmakers and a U.S. president.

“This is the agenda of white nationalists,” said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who accused Trump of trying to distract the country from his policies. “We can continue to enable this president and report on the bile of garbage that comes out of his mouth or we can hold him accountable for his crimes.”

Omar and Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) — the unnamed targets of Trump’s weekend tweets, which have been widely condemned as racist — fired back in a 20-minute news conference in the U.S. Capitol while simultaneously urging people not to “take the bait.”

Ocasio-Cortez said the president can’t defend his policies, “so what he does is attack us personally and that is what this is all about.… He can’t look a child in the face and look all Americans in the face to justify why this country is throwing [them] in cages.”

Omar, whom the president called without evidence an Al Qaeda sympathizer, refused to respond to the remark when questioned by reporters.

Trump to Democratic congresswomen: ‘Go back’ to where they came from. They’re Americans. »

“I know that every single Muslim who has lived in this country and across the world has heard that comment so I will not dignify it with an answer because I know every single Islamphobe, every single person who is hateful, who is driven by an ideology of ‘othering,’ as this president is, rejoices in us responding to that and us defending ourselves,” she said.

The four have dubbed themselves “the squad,” a group of four progressive women of color who have been bold in speaking out when they disagree with leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco.).

Pressley said the four enjoy broad support.

“Despite the occupant of the White House’s attempt to marginalize us and silence us, please know we are more than four people,” Pressley said. “We ran on a mandate to represent those … left behind.”