After President Trump over the weekend tweeted that several minority congresswomen should "go back" to where they came from, some Republican lawmakers are beginning to criticize his remarks.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) on Twitter late on Sunday said that Trump's comments were "wrong," while Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) on Monday called them "really uncalled for" and "very disappointing," also speculating that "a good number of my Republican colleagues don't appreciate the comments as well," The Washington Post reports.
Roy and Upton were soon joined by their Republican colleague Rep. Paul Mitchell (D-Mich.), who tweeted that "we must be better than comments" like Trump's, which are "beneath leaders."
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Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) also blasted Trump's tweets as "racist" and "xenophobic" on Monday while adding that the president's behavior is "unbecoming of the leader of the free world," CNN reports. Rep. Pete Olson (R-Texas) said the tweet is "not reflective" of his district's values and called on Trump to "immediately disavow his comments." And Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said Trump "was wrong" to say what he did because "three of the four were born in America," encouraging the president to critique the congresswomen for their ideas, CNN reports.
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) is the latest Republican to speak out, saying that Trump's comments were "divisive, unnecessary and wrong," reports NBC News' Frank Thorp.
Outside of Congress, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich also condemned Trump's tweets as "deplorable and beneath the dignity of the office," reports NBC News' Kelly O'Donnell, while former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake called the remarks "vile and offensive."
These comments come after earlier silence from most Republicans and after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Fox & Friends recommended that Trump "aim higher" but did not condemn the tweets, suggesting the spirit of Trump's remarks was correct because the lawmakers he was attacking "hate our own country." Trump on Monday denied that his tweets were racist.
