WTF Just Happened Today

Monday, July 15, 2019

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1/ Trump told four liberal congresswomen of color to "go back" and "fix" their "broken and crime infested" countries. All four are American citizens and born in the United States, except for one, who became a refugee at age 10 when a civil war devastated Somalia. While he did not mention them by name, Trump's tweets were directed at the members of the so-called "squad," who were elected to Congress in 2018: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley. Republicans remained largely silent after Trump's attack. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, called the tweets "xenophobic" and accused Trump of reaffirming his plan to make "America white again." (New York Times / Associated Press / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / Yahoo News / CNN)

• Trump racists tweets, explained. (Vox)

2/ Trump denied that his racist tweets were racist, insisting that "If you're not happy here, then you can leave." Earlier, Trump accused the four congresswomen of "spewing" "racist hatred" and that "many people" agree with his view that they "hate our country." (CNN / The Guardian / BuzzFeed News / New York Times / Washington Post)

• Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he doesn't believe Trump's racist tweets were racist. "I understand what the President's comment is," Mnuchin said. " I'm not concerned about the President's comment." (CNN)

3/ The four congresswomen condemned Trump's racist tweets, calling them "the agenda of white nationalists" and "a continuation of his racist and xenophobic playbook." During a press conference, Rep. Pressley responded to Trump's comments, saying: "Our squad is big. Our squad includes any person committed to building a more equitable and just world, and that is the work that we want to get back to and given the size of this squad and this great nation, we cannot, we will not be silenced." Trump – again – attacked the four congresswomen in a series of tweets, saying, "IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY HERE, YOU CAN LEAVE." (