President Donald Trump denied Monday that the inflammatory tweets he issued Sunday were racist.
Asked on the South Lawn during an event on American-made products if his tweets were racist, he said: "Not at all."
He pointed to comments that one of the congresswomen made about Al Qaeda -- but didn't say who.
"If somebody has a problem with our country, if somebody doesn't want to be in our country, they should leave," Trump said.
But he used racist language on Sunday to attack progressive Democratic congresswomen, falsely implying they weren't natural-born American citizens.
Trump did not name who he was attacking in Sunday's tirade but earlier this week he referenced New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez when the President was defending House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Asked Monday who he's talking about, Trump said: "You can guess."
A group of Democrats, who are women of color and have been outspoken about Trump's immigration policies, last week condemned the conditions of border detention facilities. The group of women joining Ocasio-Cortez were Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib and Pressley are natural-born US citizens, while Omar was born in Somalia and immigrated to the US when she was young. Omar became a citizen in 2000 when she was 17 years old, according to The New York Times .
Trump implied in the series of tweets that the congresswomen weren't born in America and sarcastically suggested, "they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came."
So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly......
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019
ARIZONA LAWMAKERS REACT
Only three members of the Arizona Congressional delegation commented on the President's attacks against the congresswomen.
Tucson Democrat Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick said, "I condemn the President’s tweets about my colleagues in the House. His comments reaffirm his divisive agenda through racist and xenophobic rhetoric. These congresswomen are fighting for what the American flag stands for, and they are raising their voices to highlight the rights our U.S. Constitution protects and defends. Instead of attacking members of Congress on Twitter, the President should work with us on humane immigration policy that reflect our American values.”
Phoenix Democrat Congressman Ruben Gallego tweeted that the President is a racist.
They are Americans some born some chose to be, @realDonaldTrump chose to be racist. https://t.co/BguGAwQP0S
— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) July 14, 2019
Flagstaff Democrat Tom O'Halleran called the President's tweets offensive and unbecoming of the office.
The president’s comments over the weekend were offensive and unbecoming of the office. This lack of civility and the hurtful, divisive rhetoric that has become so common is obstructing the work we need to do for the American people. Our leaders must be better than this. #AZ01
— Rep. Tom O'Halleran (@RepOHalleran) July 15, 2019
ABC15 has reached out to the entire Arizona Congressional delegation.
