Donald Trump continued to lob insults at four Democratic congresswomen, calling them out by name during a rally Wednesday night in North Carolina.
And how his rally crowd responded is getting a lot of backlash online.
On Sunday, he tweeted racist comments targeting Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, saying they need to “go back” to their home countries.
The lawmakers — all outspoken Trump critics and women of color — are fueling “the rise of a dangerous, hard left,” Trump said Wednesday.
After blasting Omar — who came to the U.S. from Somalia as a child and is a naturalized American citizen — and accusing her of “launching vicious anti-Semitic screeds,” the crowd erupted in chants of “Send her back!” This not only echoed Trump’s tweets, but also “Lock her up!” the longtime rallying cry of Trump supporters aimed at Hillary Clinton.
Here's the President of the United States standing before a crowd supporters who are chanting "Send her back!" to a duly elected American congresswoman, who was born in Somalia.
He does nothing to correct them. pic.twitter.com/AqYwicJhuy [1]
— Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) July 18, 2019 [2]
Omar herself posted some words from Maya Angelou in response:
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.-Maya Angelou https://t.co/46jcXSXF0B [3]
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) July 18, 2019 [4]
Trump just stood there while his MAGAt’s chanted, and didn’t even try to stop them, or correct them.
And Twitter had some thoughts:
I just saw the "Send her back" chant video from the Trump rally and it's more horrific than I could have imagined. There's a young girl who looks to be 12, chanting zombie-like with the rest of the crowd, taught to hate by the president of the United States
— Will Bunch (@Will_Bunch) July 18, 2019 [5]
“SEND HER BACK, SEND HER BACK,” is ugly. It’s ignorant. It’s dangerous. And it’s un-American.
It’s flat out bigotry. And every Republican should condemn this bigotry immediately. Stop this now.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) July 18, 2019 [6]
Whether it's "send her back" or "lock her up," "there has to be some form of punishment" or "grab her by the p***y"—the throughline is contempt for women and anyone who threatens this president's fragile ego.
He should be afraid. We are his worst nightmare. And we will beat him.
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) July 18, 2019 [7]
I know I’m a broken record. But there is nothing in American patriotism that could create an argument for “send her back.” There is plenty in nationalism that would demand it. Oh, FWIW I think Omar’s views run the gamut from silly to reprehensible. But she’s an American. Period.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) July 18, 2019 [8]
trump rally. His cult screams “send her back”. trump stands at the podium and says nothing. Remember when that crazy woman told McCain that Obama was a Muslim? McCain stood up. This is why veterans supported McCain and not a coward like trump
— American Veteran (@amvetsupport) July 18, 2019 [9]
SEND HER BACK.
The President of the United States encouraged thousands of racists to chant that a black congresswoman should be sent back to Africa.
This is historically ugly.
— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) July 18, 2019 [10]
POTUS is leading a rally chanting "SEND HER BACK" about a duly elected member of Congress. The GOP knows this is dangerously un-American. The GOP is appeasing Trump. The Democrats are appeasing Trump. And appeasing Trump will fare no better than appeasing Hitler.
— Randi Mayem Singer (@rmayemsinger) July 18, 2019 [11]