The Congressional Black Caucus blasted President Donald Trump for his personal attacks on U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., whom he repeatedly called “garbage” amid criticisms of the Trump administration’s rhetoric and policies targeting immigrant communities.
“Between falling asleep in his own Cabinet meeting, President Trump somehow finds the time to launch hateful attacks against Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Somali immigrants in Minnesota. If only President Trump put half as much energy into governing as he does into catching a nap and spreading hate, our country would be much better off,” said the caucus in a joint statement led by Chairwoman Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, D-N.Y.
As theGrio previously reported, during a Tuesday Cabinet meeting at the White House, President Trump said of Somali immigrants in Rep. Omar’s state of Minnesota, “We’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country.”
“Ilhan Omar is garbage. She’s garbage. Her friends are garbage,” said Trump. “These aren’t people that say, let’s go, come on, let’s make this place great. These are people that do nothing but complain. They complain, and from where they came from, they got nothing.”
Omar, a former Somali child refugee, like many other Democrats, has been a vocal critic of Trump’s actions as president, which include issuing a travel ban targeting the majority of African countries, mass immigration raids and deportations, and deploying National Guard troops in mostly majority Black and Brown cities.
In response to Trump’s personal attacks on Omar, the CBC said, “Rather than focusing on lowering the cost of living for hardworking American families, ensuring that all Americans have access to quality and affordable healthcare, and bringing our country together, President Trump has once again turned to the same racist and ignorant strategy of targeting Black and immigrant communities to distract from his enormous failures and historically low poll numbers on health care and the economy.”
The caucus, known as the “Conscience of the Congress,” noted other racist incidents involving the Republican Party to demonstrate that the president’s remarks about Omar are not an isolated incident.
“From the recently leaked texts of Republican officials using the n-word and praising Hitler to President Trump’s comments in the Cabinet Room, it’s beyond clear that the Republican Party’s racism truly knows no bounds,” said the group of Black members of Congress.
“To be clear, since coming to Congress in 2019, Congresswoman Omar has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of her constituents. She—nor any member of Congress, or any community—deserves to be targeted by the president this way,” they added. “President Trump’s comments are disgusting and pathetic, and unfortunately, it seems that few, if any, Republicans have the spine to say enough is enough.”
