Jay Inslee calls Trump a white nationalist during raucous debate

(Image credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

For his first big line of the night, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee came out swinging against President Trump.

After his fellow Democratic presidential candidates argued back and forth about deportations and decriminalizing border crossings, Inslee brought the focus back to the man currently making policy. "I think we're missing two central statements we need to make," he said. "No. 1, we can no longer allow a white nationalist to be in the White House. No. 2, we have to make America what it's always been: a place of refuge."

Inslee, who received loud applause and cheers for his Trump remark, said he's happy to have been the first governor to tell Syrian refugees they are welcome in Washington and oppose Trump's Muslim ban. "I'm proud to have sued him 21 times and beat him 21 times in a row," he added. "I'm ready for November 2020." Washington has sued the Trump administration for a variety of reasons since 2017, including over rules that cut off federal family planning funds to abortion providers.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.