Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar has branded Donald Trump a "fascist" as the president sought to distance himself from mocking chants of "Send her back!" directed at the Somali-born lawmaker by his supporters.
"We have said this president is racist, we have condemned his racist remarks," Omar, one of two Muslim women in Congress, said on Thursday. "I believe he is fascist."
Chants of "Send her back!" broke out at Trump's "Make America Great Again" rally in Greenville, North Carolina, on Wednesday night as he attacked Omar and three other ethnic minority Democratic congresswomen known as the "Squad."
"I was not happy when I heard that chant," he said. "I didn't like that they did it, and I started speaking quickly."
To the delight of his thousands of supporters in Greenville, Trump described Omar and the other three Democrats as "left-wing ideologues (who) see our nation as a force of evil."
"He's rallying his base," said Wendy Schiller, a professor of political science at Brown University. "He thinks this is a way to get them riled up now."
Several of the Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls condemned Trump's remarks. "It's vile. It's cowardly. It's xenophobic. It's racist," said California Senator Kamala Harris. "It's time to get Trump out of office and unite the country."
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the Democratic congresswomen singled out for criticism by Trump, said "his rhetoric is endangering lots of people" and "creating a volatile environment."
"This ugliness must end, or we risk our great union."