Twitter tirade ‘proves Donald Trump is a raging racist’
US president attacked four congresswomen in angry tweets on Sunday

US President Donald Trump has been accused of being a “raging racist” after he posted a series of tweets attacking Democratic congresswomen.
Trump claimed the women “originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe” and then told them to “go back”.
His messages were widely decoded as referring to four left-wing Democratic women of colour: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar, only one of whom was born outside the US.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Guardian described the tweets as a “racist attack” while the Washington Post wrote of “the unmistakable ugliness of Trump urging brown-skinned congresswomen to ‘go back’ to their countries”.
The New York Times did not hold back, saying the tweets see Trump “fan the flames of a racial fire,” with an opinion article arguing that they “prove Trump is a raging racist”.
CNN does not foresee any censure for the President, saying that he “knows he can trade in such base tactics because he will pay no price in a Republican Party cowed by his fervent political base”.
The row began when Trump took to Twitter on Sunday to say that it was “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 and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful nation on earth, how our government is to be run.”
The US president continued: “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough.
“I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!”
Democrats, including the quartet Trump indirectly referred to, have lined up to condemn the President’s words. Tlaib wrote on Twitter: “Want a response to a lawless and complete failure of a president? He is the crisis. His dangerous ideology is the crisis. He needs to be impeached.”
Omar described Trump as “the worst, most corrupt and inept president we have ever seen”. Pressley said: “This is what racism looks like. We are what democracy looks like.”
Ocasio-Cortez said “the country I ‘come from’, and the country we all swear to, is the United States”.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the president wants to “make America white again”.
Meanwhile, Justin Amash, the representative who announced earlier this month that he was leaving the Republican Party said Trump’s comments were “racist and disgusting”.
The President remains unrepentant. Responding to the outcry over his remarks, Trump said it was “sad to see the Democrats sticking up for people who speak so badly of our country”.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
5 educational cartoons about the Harvard pushback
Cartoons Artists take on academic freedom, institutional resistance, and more
By The Week US
-
One-pan black chickpeas with baharat and orange recipe
The Week Recommends This one-pan dish offers bold flavours, low effort and minimum clean up
By The Week UK
-
Merz's coalition deal: a 'betrayal' of Germany?
Talking Point With liberalism, freedom and democracy under threat globally, it's a time for 'giants' – but this is a 'coalition of the timid'
By The Week UK
-
El Salvador's CECOT prison becomes Washington's go-to destination
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Republicans and Democrats alike are clamoring for access to the Trump administration's extrajudicial deportation camp — for very different reasons
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Supreme Court takes up Trump birthright appeal
Speed Read The New Jersey Attorney General said a constitutional right like birthright citizenship 'cannot be turned on or off at the whims of a single man'
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Court slams Trump, senator visits Ábrego García
Speed Read The case 'should be shocking not only to judges' but all Americans with an 'intuitive sense of liberty'
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
The anger fueling the Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez barnstorming tour
Talking Points The duo is drawing big anti-Trump crowds in red states
By Joel Mathis, The Week US
-
Judge threatens Trump team with criminal contempt
Speed Read James Boasberg attempts to hold the White House accountable for disregarding court orders over El Salvador deportation flights
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Why the GOP is nervous about Ken Paxton's Senate run
Today's Big Question A MAGA-establishment battle with John Cornyn will be costly
By Joel Mathis, The Week US
-
UK-US trade deal: can Keir Starmer trust Donald Trump?
Today's Big Question White House insiders say an agreement is 'two weeks' away but can Britain believe it?
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK
-
A running list of Trump's second-term national security controversies
In Depth Several scandals surrounding national security have rocked the Trump administration
By Justin Klawans, The Week US