Trump says ‘the squad’ must apologize to US, Israel

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump renews attacks on four Democratic congresswomen he launched xenophobic tweets against last week, demanding they apologize “for the horrible (hateful) things they have said.”

“I don’t believe the four Congresswomen are capable of loving our Country,” Trump tweets of ethnic-minority first-term Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley.

“They should apologize to America (and Israel) for the horrible (hateful) things they have said. They are destroying the Democrat Party, but are weak & insecure people who can never destroy our great Nation!” the president tweets.

The comments come a week after Trump sparked a firestorm of outrage when he attacked the left-leaning lawmakers with a series of tweets, saying they should “go back” to their countries of origin.

The group — three of whom were born in the United States — are of Puerto Rican, Palestinian, Somali and African-American descent.

In a rare move, Trump was rebuked by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on Tuesday for “racist comments” against the women, who are known as “the squad.”

The following day chants of “Send her back!” broke out at the president’s “Make America Great Again” rally in Greenville, North Carolina, when he again attacked the women.

— AFP