In their first interview since President Trump launched an all-out Twitter assault on Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), the four congresswomen called out Republicans who chose not to vote to condemn Trump’s racist commentary.
In a clip of the interview released Tuesday evening, Tlaib called Trump’s attacks — telling the four congresswomen of color to go back to their home countries, even though three of the four were born in the U.S. — a “distraction” and Ocasio-Cortez slammed Republicans for lacking “basic human decency.”
When CBS’s asked whether enough Republicans had spoken up to call Trump out for the insults, Ocasio-Cortez said: “Absolutely not.”
“We just held a vote today and not a single Republican could bring themselves, no matter what their public statement, or what their public gesture, or public discomfort, they could not bring themselves to have the basic human decency to vote against this statement the President made on the floor,” she said.
“They’re choosing him over country,” Tlaib added.
Four Republicans — Reps. Will Hurd (TX), Fred Upton (MI), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA) and Susan Brooks (IN) — and newly minted independent Justin Amash (MI) voted with Democrats to denounce Trump’s racist remarks.
Watch the clip below:
CBS NEWS EXCLUSIVE: In "The Squad's" first interview since Pres. Trump's racist tweets, Rep. @RashidaTlaib, alongside @AOC, @IlhanMN & @AyannaPressley, tells @GayleKing that Republicans who don't condemn @POTUS' attacks are "choosing him over country." https://t.co/m9GQhKxSWO pic.twitter.com/GJ9I7iEZyz
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) July 16, 2019