President Trump continued his Twitter attacks on "Radical Left Congresswomen" on Monday, escalating his rhetoric one day after a racist string of tweets said that legislators should "go back" and fix their own countries before shaping American government.
Trump attempted to turn the tables in a pair of Sunday evening tweets, arguing that "Whenever confronted, they call their adversaries, including Nancy Pelosi, 'RACIST.'"
- "Their disgusting language and the many terrible things they say about the United States must not be allowed to go unchallenged."
- He followed in much the same vein with another Monday tweet: "If Democrats want to unite around the foul language & racist hatred spewed from the mouths and actions of these very unpopular & unrepresentative Congresswomen, it will be interesting to see how it plays out."
The big picture: Trump didn't specifically name anyone in this group of congresswomen, but four progressive Democratic congresswomen of color popularly known as "The Squad" — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley — have made headlines for clashing with Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
- Of those four, only Omar is an immigrant to the United States.
- Trump's repeated claims of "foul language" seem to refer to a statement by Tlaib when she said Congress would "impeach the motherf---er" during an event in January soon after being sworn in.
The state of play: As Axios' Mike Allen reported, even the GOP is having a hard time defending the president on this line of attack. "Republicans with a conscience are cringing," a Trump ally told him.
Go deeper: A tough time to be a Trump supporter
