Racist rhetoric from the White House

We discuss President Trump's racist attacks on Representatives Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Tlaib and Pressley, all women of color, and the political and public response.

Air Date: July 17, 2019 10:00 am

From left, U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.,at a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, July 15, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Guests: Dina Nayeri, Joe Watkins, Camille Burge

President Trump used racist rhetoric to attack four members of Congress over the weekend and continued his slurs in a press conference yesterday. He tweeted that Representatives Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, all women of color, should “go back to where you come from” despite the fact that all are U.S. citizens and three of them born in the United States. The Congresswomen have since held their own press conference to call out Trump on his highly-charged racist comments, while the majority Republicans continue to deflect questioning or defend the President. This hour, we discuss the President’s comments, the four Congresswomen’s response and the public reaction. And we look at the role racism continues to play in politics. Our guests are writer and Iranian refugee DINA NAYERI, Republican political commentator JOE WATKINS, and CAMILLE BURGE, assistant professor of political science at Villanova University.

WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.