The silence from our state’s Republican congressional delegation — and from the Republican Party generally — has been deafening in the wake of President Trump’s racist tweet on Sunday, suggesting that four Democratic congresswomen of color should “go back” to the countries they came from.
Of course, of the four U.S. representatives Trump targeted — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York), Ilhan Omar (Minnesota), Rashida Tlaib (Michigan) and Ayanna S. Pressley (Massachusetts) — only Omar, who is a naturalized citizen, was born outside of the U.S. As a citizen, the congresswoman would say her country is the U.S.A., and the people of Minnesota would second that, unless they were racists.
This was a popular Twitter riff yesterday:
Looks like Trump's 2020 campaign slogan is "Fuck it, I'm a racist"
— Jeremy Newberger (@jeremynewberger) July 14, 2019
Which Trump essentially confirmed in a press conference today:
Q: "Does it concern you that many people saw that tweet as racist and that white nationalist groups are finding common cause with you on that point?"
Trump: "It doesn't concern me because many people agree with me."
— Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) July 15, 2019
ProPublica, which has been compiling hate incidents in the wake of Trump’s election with its Documenting Hate project, notes in this thread that “go back to your country” or some variation is one of the most common phrases it’s identified.
1/ Here at @ProPublica, we've been documenting hate incidents using tips from the public. It turns out that "go back to your country" or "go back to [X] country" is one of the most common phrases we've identified in the @DocumentHate tips database.
— ProPublica (@propublica) July 15, 2019
Among the examples Pro Publica cites are two incidents at Arkansas Walmarts. One involves a white customer at a Bentonville Walmart telling a Latina woman to “Go back to Mexico.” The Times reported on the other incident. Local activist Maria Meneses captured footage of a man in the parking lot of a Bryant Walmart telling Meneses and her family, including small children, to “go home” and “get the fuck out of here.” Meneses, who is pursuing her degree in biology on a pre-med path at Philander Smith College, is interning with U.S. Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.) this summer as part of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute internship program. She’s a DREAMer, who was born in Guatemala City and immigrated to Little Rock at age 2 with her mother.
And Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC, 1950) says the four Democrats, and of, course, people who agree with them, are “a bunch of communists” who “hate this country.”
Can American political discourse go any lower?