On 14 July, Donald Trump used Twitter to tell four unnamed Democratic congresswomen to ‘go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came’. His racist language shocked many around the world, but he has refused to back down. The Guardian’s Jamiles Lartey looks at Trump’s history of racism while David Smith discusses how it may affect the 2020 presidential race. And: Julian Borger on the Iran crisis.
Although Donald Trump did not name the targets of his racists tweets on 14 July, it was clear the attack was directed at a group of progressive Democratic congresswomen: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. Only Omar, who is from Somalia, was not born in the US. Pressley is African American, Tlaib was born to Palestinian immigrants and Ocasio-Cortez comes from a New York-Puerto Rican family.
While many were quick to criticise the president, Republicans mostly defended Trump against charges of racism. Several days later, lawmakers passed a resolution condemning his tweets – though this was approved along mostly partisan lines, with only four Republicans joining Democrats in condemning the president’s racism.
The Guardian US reporter Jamiles Lartey talks to Anushka Asthana about Trump’s history of racism, while the Guardian’s Washington bureau chief, David Smith, looks as how it will affect the 2020 presidential race.
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