US Representative Ilhan Omar on Thursday branded US President Donald Trump a “fascist” as Trump sought to distance himself from mocking chants of “send her back” directed at the Somalia-born lawmaker by his supporters.
“We have said this president is racist, we have condemned his racist remarks,” said Omar, one of two Muslim women in the US Congress. “I believe he is fascist.”
Chants of “send her back” broke out at Trump’s “Make America Great Again” rally in Greenville, North Carolina, on Wednesday night when he attacked Omar and three other ethnic-minority female Democratics known as the “Squad.”
Photo: AP
Omar on Thursday received a very different reception when she returned home to Minnesota and was greeted by crowds of supporters at the airport.
The president’s “nightmare is seeing a Somali immigrant refugee rise to Congress,” she said through a megaphone, to shouts of support. “We are going to continue to be a nightmare to this president, because his policies are a nightmare to us.”
Trump on Thursday said to reporters in the Oval Office that there was “great energy” at his earlier rally, but he was not pleased by the taunts.
“I was not happy when I heard that chant,” he said. “I didn’t like that they did it and I started speaking quickly.”
However, television footage showed that Trump let the chant continue for more than 10 seconds before he resumed speaking.
In a rare move, the Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives on Tuesday rebuked Trump for “racist comments” after he said the four should “go back” to their nations of origin if they are not happy in the US, but he made it clear at the rally that without a Democratic presidential candidate to focus on yet, he plans to make inflammatory attacks on Omar and her three fellow left-leaning Democrats a centerpiece of his re-election strategy.
The first-term lawmakers — all but one of whom, Omar, were born in the US — are of Hispanic, Arabic, Somalian and African-American descent.
To the delight of his thousands of supporters in Greenville, Trump described Omar and the other three as “left-wing ideologues [who] see our nation as a force of evil.”
“A vote for any Democrat in 2020 is a vote for the rise of radical socialism and the destruction of the American Dream — frankly the destruction of our country,” Trump said.
The crowd responded to his attacks with cries of “send her back,” reminiscent of the “lock her up” chants directed in 2016 at Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Some Republicans have urged Trump to tone down the rhetoric, but the president clearly believes — despite the risk of inflaming racial tensions and widening the partisan divide — that he has latched on to a winning strategy.
Trump tapped into grievances among white blue-collar and rural Americans to eke out a narrow victory in 2016 and he is hoping to do the same again next year.
“He’s rallying his base,” said Wendy Schiller, a professor of political science at Brown University. “He thinks this is a way to get them riled up now.”
Trump won 57 percent of white voters in 2016, while Clinton won 37 percent.
About 70 percent of the electorate next year is expected to be white. African-Americans, Hispanics and other minorities account for the rest and tend to vote Democrat.
Several of the Democratic presidential hopefuls condemned Trump’s remarks.
“It’s vile. It’s cowardly. It’s xenophobic. It’s racist,” US Senator Kamala Harris said.
“These members of Congress — children of immigrants, just like so many of us — are an example of exactly what makes America great,” former US vice president Joe Biden said.
Trump’s remarks also came in for criticism from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who called them “hurtful,” and European Council President Donald Tusk, who said the comments were “totally unacceptable.”
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was