Defiant in the face of widespread censure, President Donald Trump escalated his demand for four Democratic congresswomen of colour to leave the US "right now," stoking the discord that helped send him to the White House and claiming "many people agree with me."
"It doesn't concern me because many people agree with me," Trump said Monday at the White House. "A lot of people love it, by the way."
The resolution "strongly condemns" Trump's "racist comments" and says they "have legitimised and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of colour."
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, the party's White House nominee in 2012 and now one of the president's most vocal GOP critics, said Trump's comments were "destructive, demeaning, and disunifying."
Trump singled out Omar, in particular, accusing her of having "hatred" for Israel and expressing "love" for "enemies like al-Qaida."
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She addressed herself directly to Trump in a tweet, writing, "You are stoking white nationalism (because) you are angry that people like us are serving in Congress and fighting against your hate-filled agenda."