Thursday July 18, 2019
President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Williams Arena in Greenville, N.C., Wednesday, July 17, 2019. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
The crowd at a rally held by U.S. President Donald Trump in Greenville, N.C., broke into chants of “send her back” as the president railed against Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar Wednesday, days after he posted racist tweets about Omar and three of her fellow congresswomen.
The crowd booed Omar as Trump mentioned her name.
In a series of racist tweets sent on Sunday, Trump said that Omar and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”
Omar was born in Somalia and came to the U.S. as a refugee when she was a teenager. The three others were born in America, and all are women of colour.
The Democratic-led House voted Tuesday to condemn Trump’s comments as racist.
Before Wednesday’s rally, Trump said he had no regrets about the ongoing spat, telling reporters he thinks he’s “winning the political argument” and “winning it by a lot.”
"If people want to leave our country, they can. If they don't want to love our country, if they don't want to fight for our country, they can," Trump said. "I'll never change on that."
Omar did not comment directly on Trump's remarks at the rally, but reacted on Twitter by quoting Maya Angelou: "You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I’ll rise."