Congressman claims 'send her back' chants were 'not Trump's language' but it literally was Trump's language

The fallout from president Trump’s racist tweets, which were followed days later by racist chants at one of his rallies, continues to roll on.

Earlier this week, the president tweeted telling four Democratic congresswomen of colour, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, to “go back” to the countries they came from (despite the fact that three of the women were born in the US).

After the tweets were condemned by world leaders and commentators across the world, Trump’s supporters launched into a chant of “send her back” at a North Carolina rally. This happened moments after the president mentioned Omar by name.

The clip shocked the world, but Trump has distanced himself from the chants, saying he “disagrees” with them. He also said he tried to stop the chants, despite video evidence showing him doing nothing to stop the crowd.

Predictably, Trump sympathisers have been trying to find ways to minimise the damage or excuse the president’s actions.

Republican congressman Mark Meadows attempted to excuse the president by saying that the "send her back" chant was "not his language".

He added:

If you've been at any rally, you know that the president doesn't control the chants that happen.

But there’s one glaring problem.

The language used by Trump’s supporters almost directly mirrors the wording of his tweets, where he clearly says “go back”.

Then there’s the issue of controlling crowds at a rally.

People have been remembering how Barack Obama and John McCain responded to audience members heckling or saying things they didn’t agree with. Obama even scolded his crowd for booing a man who heckled him during a campaign speech.

As Meadows defended Trump, videos of him saying it was time to send then-president Obama "home to Kenya" resurfaced online.

So perhaps Meadows isn't the best person to make judgements on the president's racist remarks.

More: Trump now says he 'disagrees' with 'send her back' chant and everyone is making the same point