Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) on Friday slammed GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Paul Gosar (Ariz.) for leading efforts to form the “America First Caucus,” telling the House Republicans to “take your nativist crap and shove it.”
A seven-page policy platform document first obtained by Punchbowl News calls for a “common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions” and describes American culture as dominated by “Anglo-Saxon” and European influences.
Lieu, whose family came to the U.S. from Taiwan when he was 3 years old, tagged Greene and Gosar in a Friday tweet, writing, “As an immigrant, I served on active duty in the US military to defend your right to say stupid stuff.”
“What makes America great is that we don’t judge you based on bloodline, we look at your character,” added the congressman, a former active duty officer in the Air Force and a colonel in the Reserves.
“So take your nativist crap and shove it,” he added.
In the new caucus’s platform, the group declares that “a certain intellectual boldness is needed” in order to “follow in President Trump’s footsteps, and potentially step on some toes and sacrifice sacred cows for the good of the American nation.”
“History has shown that societal trust and political unity are threatened when foreign citizens are imported en-masse into a country, particularly without institutional support for assimilation and an expansive welfare state to bail them out should they fail to contribute positively to the country,” the platform adds.
Greene and Gosar, both fervent allies of former President Trump, have found themselves at the center of controversies for past racist remarks or associations with white nationalist groups.
Others took to Twitter on Friday to blast the new group, including former Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.), who tweeted, “Let’s just call this America First Caucus what it is: the White Power Caucus.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) announced Friday that he was among the group of lawmakers joining the caucus.
“We will end wars, stop illegal immigration & promote trade that is fair to American workers,” he tweeted.