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Their press conference represented an extraordinary moment in the post-civil rights era, when a new generation of young political leaders – elected in 2018 in reaction to Trump's victory in 2016 – began to face public opposition. the oldest scourge of political racism in Washington.
"I want to tell the children from all over the country (…) no matter what the president says, this country belongs to you and belongs to everyone," said Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez representative from New York.
The controversy erupted when Trump – still seeking to awaken his political base – used one of the most basic racial tropics when he tweeted that women, who are all American citizens, should "return" to their place of origin.
He declined to back down Monday, in an episode that reflects his tendency to oppose groups of Americans and his confidence that he will not lose the support of the Republican party that he has reshaped to his image.
"It does not concern me because many people disagree with me," said Trump, implicitly arguing that racist positions are acceptable if they are shared by a large number of people.
The clash of Monday is preparing for days. The four members of Congress were among the most ferocious critics of Trump 's border policies and many of them visited facilities for undocumented migrants and condemned the president with emotion.
The party may be tainted for years by Trump's racial strategies, which could hinder his chances of appealing to an increasingly diverse country once the president leaves the White House.
Trump's bet
Trump made it clear on Monday that he would use the race and haunted, blood-soaked politics that he invokes as an anchor of his bid for reelection. A conscious decision to expose the divisions that most leaders have been trying to suppress for decades is a bold and shocking bet that bodes dark months for politics.
His appearance on the South Lawn of the White House was placed alongside other racist moments in his political career: he launched his 2016 campaign by shooting tirade against the Mexicans and defended the neo-Nazi defenders to Charlottesville, Virginia.
In all three cases, Trump made the conscious decision to use and then double his racial sensibilities to exploit national social divisions to strengthen his political position.
His expansion of his attacks Monday against the liberal quartet known as "The Squad" was clearly calculated. He spoke behind a podium bearing the presidential seal and typed remarks, edited with a black sharpie. Trump asserted that critics like those of "the team" hated America, should leave if they do not like it and if they are communists.
When asked if he was worried that Sunday's tweets would reassure white supremacists, Trump refused to back down.
"They are people who, in my opinion, hate our country (…) and all I say is that if they are not happy here, they can leave", a- he declared.
Trump created his White House moment with the windows of the Lincoln bedroom, where the 16th President read for the first time the Emancipation Proclamation addressed to his Cabinet, over his left shoulder. One floor above him stood the eastern room where, in 1964, President Lyndon Johnson pledged to "close the sources of racial poison" by signing the Civil Rights Act.
"We will never be a socialist or communist country.IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY HERE, YOU CAN LEAVE! It's your choice, and your choice alone. It's about love for America.Some people hate our country, "wrote Trump.
His comment did not take into account the fact that the four legislators are US citizens elected in a body whose specific purpose is to control power and presidential policies. They suggested that the president does not share the principles of inclusiveness on which he is supposed to support the nation he directs.
In refusing to move away from his attacks, Trump sought to make the team the face of the Democratic Party in 2020. He clearly hopes to use this group to break the gap between the Democrats and the more moderate voters who could be troubled by the left of the team. wing policies and his own interpretations of their radicalism.
Pressley, however, issued a warning Monday to the president to inform him that the group belonged to a much broader opposition front.
"Our team is great, our team includes anyone committed to building a fairer and more equitable world," she said.
Goals GOP
Before the last controversy, the quartet had already become a target of the GOP, given the radicality of their left-wing politics that opposed them to Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Ocasio-Cortez delighted conservatives in their search for targets by comparing border detention centers with "concentration camps". Omar was at the center of a storm on anti-Semitic statements. Several members of the group have taken positions on foreign policy that are outside the mainstream of most congressional views (just like Trump).
"If the Democrats want to pull themselves together around this group of four …" said Trump, offering insight into the general election strategy to tie the eventual Democratic candidate to the most radical elements of their party .
Trump's policy on racial politics and the rhetoric of immigration on scorched earth were the driving force behind his victory in the 2016 elections – though there are many complex reasons for the defeat of ## 148 ## Hillary Clinton.
The question of whether Trump's core strategy will be successful in 2020 or could alienate more moderate voters and provoke record participation in the more diverse democratic coalition.
Some Republicans have condemned Trump's tweets, including representative Will Hurd, who owns one of Texas' most competitive districts, and told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that the president's tweets were "racist and xenophobic." are also inaccurate ".
But other Republicans have shown the stress of being asked to weigh on Trump's feelings while preserving their ability to take on the team, one of the main political objectives of the GOP.
"I do not think the president is racist," Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-North Dakota, told CNN.
"I think it was a very unfortunate choice of words, but I also understand his frustration with their anti-American and anti-Semitic hatred that some of them are vomiting."
Trump's most committed supporters, like Kevin McCarthy, leader of the House GOP minority, said the real problem was "really a sort of socialist battle against something we believe in America."
But even McCarthy disapproved of the president's suggestion that Omar, an American citizen born in Somalia and her colleagues, should "go back" to where she was.
"They are Americans, nobody thinks that someone should leave the country," he said.
The "platoon" answers
In a gesture of solidarity, the team made its own television appearance late Monday afternoon.
Pressley condemned the words "xenophobia" and "braggart" of Trump, which she would only describe as "occupying our White House".
"It occupies only space, it does not embody the grace, the empathy, the compassion, the integrity that this function requires and that the American people deserve" said Pressley.
But she also showed an awareness of the political dynamics at stake and Trump's desire to exploit any undisciplined and radical behavior of his group for political ends.
"I encourage the American people and all of us, in this room and beyond, not to bite on the hook," she said.
Tlaib warned that Trump's racist attacks were in part designed to keep Americans' attention away from the border crisis.
"We can not allow these heinous acts of the president to distract us from the critical work of holding this administration accountable for the inhuman border conditions that separate children from their loved ones and lock them up in illegal and horrible conditions," he said. said Tlaib. .
The performance of the four women has been powerful and carefully formulated in American principles and values, focusing on issues such as education, health care and affordable housing. It also gave the president the visual elements he hoped to have.
The sight of four women of color – in positions of power, including two Muslims – offered a picture of diversity and inclusion, but contrasted with the vision of a white and nativist America that Trump implicitly sold to "Make America Great Again "followers.
Omar, perhaps the most visible target of Trump, invoked Martin Luther King Jr. to warn that "the eyes of history are watching us".
She also used Trump's own words and some were attributed to him in reports to condemn him.
"This is a president who said, catch women by the cat.This is a president who called the black athletes sons of whores.This is a president who called people who come from black and brown countries, holes, this is a president who likened the neo-Nazis to those who protest against them in Charlottesville, "said Omar.
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