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Donald Trump has doubled down on his racist statements and the four congresswomen of colour, to whom it is believed his words were directed, responded with defiance in a historic stand against the US president.
Trump suggested that those House Democrats not born in America should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came”.
He sparked fury when he said they "originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe" and they should go home.
While Trump failed to name names, it is widely assumed that his vitriol was directed at four congresswomen of colour; Ilhan Omar, a former Somali refugee, Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez, who is of Puerto Rican descent, Palestinian-American Rashida Tlaib and black congresswoman Ayanna Presley.
Three out of the four lawmakers were born in the United States and all are US citizens, making his words all the more unsettling.
Trump has defended his comments and denied allegations of racism.
In response, the four women held a conference and addressed the US president’s words.
People are calling it a "historic" moment.
Congresswoman Omar, who was born in Somalia and moved to America in 1992, is calling on people not to be swayed by Trump’s words.
"The eyes of history are watching us," said Omar.
She added Trump's "blatantly racist attack" on four women of colour was "the agenda of white nationalists", adding that the president would like "nothing more than to divide our country".
"This is simply a disruption and a distraction from the callous chaos and corrupt culture of this administration, all the way down," Pressley said, adding that the president was only trying to “marginalise us and to silence us”.
She said:
Our squad includes any person committed to building a more equitable and just world.
Tlaib called it "simply a continuation of his racist, xenophobic playbook".
Earlier, Ocasio-Cortez slammed Trump for his comments: "You are angry because you can't conceive of an America that includes us. You rely on a frightened America for your plunder."
All four women have already made history, respectively.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
At the age of 29, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became the youngest woman to ever serve in the US congress, elected to New York’s 14th district in 2018.
Ilhan Omar.
In the 2018 midterm elections Ilhan Omar, who was born in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, was elected to Minnesota's fifth district.
She is the first Somali-American to serve, the first "naturalised" citizen from Africa to enter the house and the first woman of colour elected in Minnesota – and one of just two Muslims ever elected.
Ayanna Pressley.
The Massachusetts congresswoman is the first black woman to be elected by the state.
Rashida Tlaib.
The congresswoman, who was elected during the 2018 midterms is the first Palestinian-American woman to be elected.
Tlaib, like Omar, is one of two Muslim women to ever be elected to congress.
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