Trump’s congresswomen tweets ‘completely unacceptable’ – Theresa May
He accused the women of 'viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run'.
The pound is up after Theresa May was given a six-month Brexit delay by European leaders but she is still struggling to reach an agreement on her deal at home. AFP/Philippe HUGUEN
Outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday called US President Donald Trump’s tweets telling progressive Democrat congresswomen to “go back” where they came from “completely unacceptable”.
“Her view is that the language which was used to refer to the women was completely unacceptable,” May’s spokesman told reporters.
It is the latest controversial comment by Trump, who last year reportedly referred to countries in Africa as “shithole” nations, and who has spoken of “an invasion” of undocumented migrants.
In a tweet, Trump referred to “‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen,” which appeared to be a reference to a group of outspoken relatively young, liberal women, all first-time members of the House of Representatives.
These include Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
Trump did not say whom he was referring to but said they “originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world.”
He accused the women of “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”?
Ocasio-Cortez, who was born in New York, has ancestry from Puerto Rico, a US territory.
Tlaib, who was born in Detroit, is the first American of Palestinian descent elected to Congress.
Omar, who as a child came to the United States from war-torn Somalia, is the first black Muslim woman in Congress.
“That’s a racist tweet,” Assistant House Speaker Ben Ray Lujan, the highest-ranking Latino member of Congress, said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“These are American citizens elected by voters in the United States of America.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has warned her party to avoid the “menace” of liberal policies pushed by Ocasio-Cortez and the other progressives, if the Democrats hope to beat Trump in the 2020 election.
But on Twitter Sunday she criticized Trump’s “attack.”
“I reject @realDonaldTrump’s xenophobic comments meant to divide our nation,” she said.
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