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Reuters
- President Donald Trump’s racist tweets directed at four progressive Democrats, who are women of color, have ignited a firestorm of criticism.
- But the tweets didn’t occur in a vacuum. It was the president’s commentary on a battle between the progressive Democrats and the Democratic leadership.
- Trump’s tweets, his subsequent response, and a controversial, xenophobic chant that occurred at one of his rallies on July 17 are a sign of what’s to come along the 2020 campaign trail.
- Here’s a timeline of the chaotic series of events surrounding Trump’s tweets.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Trump on July 14 sent out a series of racist tweets directed at four progressive Democratic members of Congress who are women of color. The president suggested they “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested” countries from which they came.
Associated Press
The four lawmakers are Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. Three out of four of the lawmakers were born in the US and all are US citizens. Omar was born in Somalia, came to the US as refugee when she was a child, and became a US citizen at 17.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP Images
Trump’s tweets at the four lawmakers, who’ve become known as “the Squad” on Capitol Hill, played off of the racist “go back to Africa” trope.
Associated Press
Trump’s tweets also alluded to Democratic infighting that’s occurred between “the Squad” and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in recent weeks: “I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!”
J. Scott Applewhite/AP Images
The fight between Pelosi and the freshman Democrats largely began in late June after she accepted a Senate version of a nearly $4.6 billion emergency border aid funding bill. The progressive lawmakers felt it didn’t go far enough in terms of addressing conditions in detention centers being used by the federal government to house migrants. Ocasio-Cortez has referred to these facilities as “concentration camps.”
DHS Office of the Inspector General
“What we did today is continue to allow the atrocity to take place,” Omar said after the bill went through. “We’ve sent money that we don’t know if it’s going to continue to be used to put proper beds, to buy toothpaste, to assist these children in any kind of way and their families.”
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti sent a tweet attacking moderate Democrats over the emergency aid bill after it passed. “I don’t think people have to be personally racist to enable a racist system,” Chakrabarti wrote. “And the same could even be said of the Southern Democrats. I don’t believe [Rep. Sharice Davids] is a racist person, but her votes are showing her to enable a racist system.”
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Images
Subsequently, in an early July interview with The New York Times, Pelosi went after Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Tlaib, and Pressley. “All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world. But they didn’t have any following. They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got.”
Reuters
Chakrabarti then took to Twitter and slammed Pelosi. “All these articles want to claim what a legislative mastermind Pelosi is, but I’m seeing way more strategic smarts from freshman members,” Chakrabarti tweeted on July 6 in reference to the speaker’s comments. “Pelosi is just mad that she got outmaneuvered (again) by Republicans.”
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Not longer after, on July 8, Ocasio-Cortez pushed back on the notion she shouldn’t speak out against Pelosi in public: “Having respect for ourselves doesn’t mean we lack respect for her. It means we won’t let everyday people be dismissed.”
Joshua Roberts/Reuters
The House Speaker then scolded Democrats at a caucus meeting, telling them to come to her instead of tweeting complaints: “You got a complaint? You come and talk to me about it,” Pelosi reportedly said at the Wednesday caucus meeting. “But do not tweet about our members and expect us to think that that is just ok.”
J. Scott Applewhite/AP Images
But the feud escalated significantly last week, when the official Twitter account for the House Democrats went after Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff for the tweet he’d sent going after moderate members of the party in late June, after the emergency border aid funding bill spat. The tweet said, “Who is this guy and why is he explicitly singling out a Native American woman of color? Her name is Congresswoman Davids, not Sharice. She is a phenomenal new member who flipped a red seat blue. Keep Her Name Out Of Your Mouth.”
Jonathan Bachman/Reuters
Trump’s racist tweets attacking the progressive lawmakers were posted on Sunday, July 14. In an effort to rile up his base and further divide Democrats, the president appeared to be inserting himself in the ongoing battle between Pelosi and “the Squad.”
Associated Press
Trump on Monday said he was not concerned that the tweets were being characterized as racist, because he said “many people agree with me.” Meanwhile, a poll conducted after Trump’s tweets found his approval had gone up with Republicans.
Leah Millis/Reuters
“The Squad,” at a press conference on Monday, ripped into Trump over his tweets and reiterated calls for launching impeachment proceedings against him. “He does not know how to defend his policies so what he does is attack us personally,” Ocasio-Cortez said of Trump.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Trump on Tuesday rejected that his tweets were racist and said he doesn’t have a “racist bone” in his body. Ocasio-Cortez responded in a tweet that said, “You’re right, Mr. President — you don’t have a racist bone in your body. You have a racist mind in your head, and a racist heart in your chest.”
Associated Press
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Tuesday added fuel to the fire when she asked a reporter “what’s your ethnicity?” in response to questions about Trump’s racist tweets.
Leah Millis/Reuters
The House on Tuesday passed a resolution condemning Trump over the tweets. Every single Democrat voted in favor of the resolution, with just four Republicans joining them.
Associated Press
Before the resolution passed, Pelosi sparked a fierce debate on the House floor over using the word “racist” to describe Trump’s tweets. There are strict rules over the language lawmakers are permitted to use on the floor. Her words were ruled out of order, which led to a vote on whether to strike them from the record. The vote failed.
Reuters
The debate surrounding whether Pelosi’s word choice was so heated that Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, who was presiding over the House floor, tossed his gavel and declared, “I abandon the chair.”
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
At a rally for his 2020 re-election campaign on Wednesday in North Carolina, Trump continued his attacks on Omar, which prompted his supporters to echo his racist tweets as they chanted, “send her back!” Trump did not rebuke the chants at the time. He paused for 13 seconds before speaking again.
NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
Trump on Thursday disavowed the “send her back” chants, stating he wasn’t “happy” about them. The president also falsely claimed he attempted to stop the chants, though video shows that’s not true.
Reuters
It didn’t take long for Trump to reverse his position. On Friday, he praised the supporters who were at his Wednesday rally: “Those people in North Carolina … that stadium was packed, it was a record crowd. And I could have filled it 10 times, as you know,” Trump said. “Those are incredible people. Those are incredible patriots.”
Associated Press
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