Ted Lieu: Trump a ‘racist ass’

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) went off on President Trump on Sunday over a series of tweets attacking four nonwhite progressive female lawmakers, calling the president “a racist ass.”

Lieu made the comment while speaking on MSNBC Sunday night in response to Trump’s tweets earlier in the day, which suggested that a group of Democratic congresswomen, all of whom are U.S. citizens, should “go back” to the countries they came from before criticizing U.S. policies.

{mosads}“I never thought I’d see the day when a president was telling immigrants to go back to where we came from. Donald Trump is demonstrating he’s a racist ass. He’s not uniting us. I can’t wait until he leaves the office of the presidency,” Lieu said.

While he did not name them directly, it is widely believed Trump’s tweets referred to Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.). All four of the freshman congresswomen are U.S. citizens, and only Omar, who came to the U.S. as a refugee from Somalia, was born outside the U.S.

“So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run,” Trump tweeted Sunday.

Lieu called Trump’s attacks, which were widely condemned among Democratic lawmakers, “a new low for him.”

“I think Americans are going to react very badly against the president,” the lawmaker predicted.

When asked why thinks Trump decided to take shots at the congresswomen, Lieu said the president is becoming increasingly “unhinged” as he is continuously unable to push forward with his policies and campaign promises.

“He has not been able to build his wall, has not been able make the border situation any better and now he’s trying to do other things to amp up his base,” Lieu said.

Lieu’s remarks Sunday closely echoed a tweet he sent out earlier in response to Trump.

“What makes America exceptional is we are a nation of immigrants. As an immigrant who served on active duty, I am appalled you are telling us to ‘go back,’ ” he wrote. “I’m not going back. America is our home. And I will still be in Congress after your racist ass leaves.”

Hey @realDonaldTrump: What makes America exceptional is we are a nation of immigrants. As an immigrant who served on active duty, I am appalled you are telling us to “go back.”

I’m not going back. America is our home. And I will still be in Congress after your racist ass leaves. https://t.co/GHNkTlBEJr

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) July 14, 2019