Congresswomen urge people to ignore Trump’s bait

President Donald Trump speaks during a Made in America showcase event on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, July 15, 2019, in Washington.

WASHINGTON – The message from the four Democratic congresswomen of color targeted by President Donald Trump’s tweets: “Do not take the bait.”

Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts said Tuesday that their “squad” is big, representing many Americans. She says Trump’s “xenophobic, bigoted” tweets are a “disruptive distraction from the issues.”

The freshmen spoke after Trump tweeted over the weekend that they should “go back” the countries they’re from. Three of the four were born in the United States; one, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, is a refugee from Somalia.

Omar said the “garbage” from Trump is his plan to “pit us against” each other. She and Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan called for impeachment.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said that “no matter what the president says,” the country “belongs to everyone.”

In this combination image from left; Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., July 10, 2019, Washington, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., March 12, 2019, in Washington, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY., July 12, 2019, in Washington, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., July 10, 2019, in Washington. In tweets Sunday, President Donald Trump portrays the lawmakers as foreign-born troublemakers who should go back to their home countries. In fact, the lawmakers, except one, were born in the U.S.