The US House of Representatives voted to condemn Donald Trump for ‘racist comments’ against four minority Democratic congresswomen, a symbolic vote aimed at shaming the president and the fellow Republicans who stood by him. ‘The world is watching, and the world is in shock,’ says Democrat Karen Bass from California, ‘His comments were beneath the dignity of the office of the president of the United States and they have no place in our country. Trump had told the group of congresswomen to ‘go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came’. All four lawmakers – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan – are US citizens. Three were born in the United States. Democrats, who have a majority in the House, passed the symbolic resolution of condemnation on Tuesday evening, which said the House ’strongly condemns President Donald Trump’s racist comments that have legitimized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of colour’. Four Republicans joined the Democrats to support the measure.
