Trump Unleashes Racist Twitter Attack On Democratic Congresswomen

Trump opened his mouth and, once again, racist bilge came spewing out.

Inserting himself in the middle of a dispute that had developed between the Democratic Leadership in the House and more progressive members of Congress such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, President Trump called out four Freshman Congresswoman, telling them to go back where they came from:

President Trump said Sunday that four minority, liberal congresswomen who have been critical of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” prompting other Democrats — including Pelosi — to rally to their defense.

Pelosi denounced Trump’s tweets as “xenophobic comments meant to divide our nation.”

Trump’s remark, made in morning tweets, comes as the infighting between Pelosi and the four freshman women of color — Democratic Reps. Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and Ilhan Omar (Minn.) — has spilled into public view. It also comes as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are preparing to round up migrant families that have received deportation orders across the country.

“So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run,” Trump tweeted.

Pressley was born in Cincinnati, Tlaib was born in Detroit and Ocasio-Cortez was born in New York — about 20 miles from where Trump was born. Omar was born in Mogadishu, Somalia; her family fled the country amid civil war when she was a child, and she became a U.S. citizen as a teenager.

All four women won election to Congress in 2018.

In a follow-up tweet, Trump suggested that the four Democrats should leave Washington.

“Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” he said. “Then come back and show us how it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!”

Trump’s tweets prompted a sharp response from Pelosi, who described them as racist and divisive.

“When @realDonaldTrump tells four American Congresswomen to go back to their countries, he reaffirms his plan to ‘Make America Great Again’ has always been about making America white again,” she said in a tweet. “Our diversity is our strength and our unity is our power.”
She also called on Trump to halt the planned ICE raids on Sunday and “work with us for humane immigration policy that reflects American values.”

Other Democrats also responded with outrage, with some pointing out Trump’s history of birtherism as well as the fact that the president’s wife, Melania, immigrated to the United States. Melania Trump immigrated from Slovenia in 1996 for modeling.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), who is running for president, called Trump’s tweets “another effort to divide people along lines of religion, ethnicity, origin, and create a country where there can’t be unity.”

“Unfortunately, there’s an American tradition of telling people to go back where they came from,” de Blasio said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “It’s a very bad tradition that we need to weed out of our nation, because we are a nation of immigrants. That’s who we are by our nature for hundreds of years. But you don’t expect to hear it from the president of the United States.”

Here are the President’s Tweets:

As noted, of the four Congresswomen that Trump attacked in these tweets, three of them were born in the United States. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for example, was born in New York City to parents of Puerto Rican origin, meaning that she still would have been an American citizen even if she had been born where her parents “came from.” Ayanna Pressley, meanwhile, is African-American and was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her family has most likely been in this country longer than Trump’s. Rashida Tlaib was born in Detroit, Michigan to Palestinian immigrant parents and has been a citizen of the United States from birth. Ilhan Omar, meanwhile, was born in Somalia and brought to the United States when she was 10 years-old as they fled the war-torn country and sought, and were ultimately granted, asylum in the United States. She became a citizen of the United States in 2000 at the age of 17.

Telling these women to “go back” where they came from is absurd and quite obviously based on the fact that they are dark-skinned and have what, at least to the members of his base, unusual names. As Dan Drezner stated on Twitter, there really is no other honest way to interpret what the President said here, and it is unfortunately consistent with things that he and his supporters have said in the past. For that reason, I suppose, it doesn’t come as a surprise, but it is nonetheless sad, distressing, and outrageous all at the same time. Had any other politician said this, people would be shocked and outrage. With Trump, it’s just another example of the “same shit, different day” pattern we’ve come to expect from Donald Trump. And the Republican Party seems to be entirely okay with it.

FILED UNDER: Race and Politics, US Politics, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. mattbernius says:

    It’s ok, Trump’s supporters who post here swear he’s not a racist.

    Oh and that the Democrats are the only real racists.

    30
  2. Deathcar2000 says:

    The Donald has been so efficient at governing that he has time to referee an inter party disagreement in the oposistion party, the man is unstoppable, as in, please stop, we beg you, just stop, isn’t there a golf course that needs you. Just go away and leave us alone. Please. Stop.

    Signed
    Every sane American

    15
  3. Paine says:

    I’m really tired of the Dems’ high-minded and measured responses to this kind of crap. Trump says the most awful things and best Pelosi can come up with is: “xenophobic comments meant to divide our nation.” Remind him he lost the popular vote, call him a racist pig and a traitor, and tell him he belongs behind bars. Pelosi and the rest of the leadership just don’t seem to get what they are dealing with.

    27
  4. Gustopher says:

    “So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run,” Trump tweeted.

    Pressley was born in Cincinnati, Tlaib was born in Detroit and Ocasio-Cortez was born in New York — about 20 miles from where Trump was born

    Sometimes Trump tells the truth, but it’s usually by accident. “a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all)” is a little harsh, but it’s not an entirely wrong description of the Trump administration.

    16
  5. Gustopher says:

    It’s also very nice of Trump to step in and help heal a divide that had been forming between those four congress critters and Pelosi.

    14
  6. Mister Bluster says:

    What do Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressle, Rashida Talib and President Puke have in common?

    They are all endowed with Birthright Citizenship under the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.
    Ms. Ilhan Omar is a naturalized citizen per the same amendment.

    All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

    10
  7. Gustopher says:

    Abraham Lincoln, 1854:

    If all earthly power were given to me […] my first impulse would be to free all the slaves, and send them to Liberia,—to their own native land. But a moment’s reflection would convince me that whatever of high hope (as I think there is) there may be in this, in the long run, its sudden execution is impossible.

    I don’t really have a cogent point here, I just think it’s interesting how little things have changed. Lincoln was a great man who rose above his prejudices, but Trump… not so much.

    2
  8. MarkedMan says:

    And the Republican Party seems to be entirely okay with it.

    Doug, As I pointed out on the science thread, I think this minimizes Republican culpability, in this case for the racist core of the party as whole rather than for their fundamental anti-science. In 1964 the Republican leadership adopted the Southern Strategy, i.e. the deliberate attempt to make the party friendly to racists becoming disenchanted with a Democratic Party slowly Civil Rights movement. This was a deliberate and long term move to expand their base at the expense of minorities. Sure, there were always clean cut talking heads willing to explain away things like Reagan’s campaign launch in Philadelphia, MS or pretend to be shocked when they catch one of their own using the N word, but let’s be frank, people will do anything to appear on TV.

    8
  9. Modulo Myself says:

    Look, obviously something about progressive non-white women and whatever they stand for causes a problem. Trump’s not only being a racist. He’s saying–and his base agrees–that certain people who worm their way inside the white brain shouldn’t be allowed to speak because they’re a threat.

    And he’s not kidding. These idiots are really bothered by AOC and progressives. They’re a threat. Look at the border. Decriminalizing crossing the border does not at all mean open borders. It’s a humane strategy. It only means open borders if you fetishize everything about borders and care nothing about reality, but meanwhile consider yourself the most legitimate manly realist who has ever walked the earth. Which is Trump and his base and a percentage of people who dislike Trump but really want to cling white people and how they fetishize shit. I kind of think it’s a bad idea, unless Democrats are committed to being full-on anti-racist and calling these people out. But even then it might be a bad idea. I don’t know.

    And you could say the same thing is less racist language about how bussing is divisive and lots of blacks really were on the same side of white people who screamed at kids in Boston, which is such obvious nonsense and is as bad as anything Trump says. It’s just more subtle.

    7
  10. Raoul says:

    Trump’s tweet is revolting. It makes wonder if this is what it was like when we had those committees on unamerican activities. One thing is for sure, there is no pretense that Trump is the president for the entire country or that he can behave presidentially.

    8
  11. Modulo Myself says:

    Also, apparently ICE tried to raid several places in NYC and were turned away because they didn’t have search warrants. It’s hard to imagine how that happened, but ICE managed to pull off not having search warrants. It’s like racism corrodes the brain to the point where the optimal state is being a dumb local cop who is too stupid to get into the NYPD and way too stupid to solve crimes and handle responsibility.

    9
  12. Jc says:

    Where are the GOP repudiating tweets? crickets? Trump is such a D-bag, but he is leading your party. You can’t just hang out in the corner of the party waiting for it to end. “You, Turtle in the back, speak up.”

    9
  13. Jay L Gischer says:

    Mostly I wanted to tell you, Doug, how much I loved these sentences:

    Ayanna Pressley, meanwhile, is African-American and was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her family has most likely been in this country longer than Trump’s.

    Yeah.

    18
  14. Jim Brown 32 says:

    Weren’t there some old Epstein party memories he could have spent the day reminiscing to? Damn.

    4
  15. gVOR08 says:

    @Mister Bluster:

    They are all endowed with Birthright Citizenship under the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.

    Many Republicans want to eliminate birthright citizenship. They don’t think such people are “real” citizens and Trump is playing to their feelings.

    7
  16. Andrew says:

    I’ll skip the Patriotism lesson from President DodgeVietnam vonTaxEvader. (aka. The Useful Russian Idiot.)
    Who is married to The First Illegal Immigrant Lady.
    Thanks.

    9
  17. Jay L Gischer says:

    @Gustopher: For what it’s worth, I think the important fact that Lincoln and so many other white people of that time, overlooked was simple: Black Americans thought of themselves as Americans, and of this land as their home. I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t understand this once upon a time. For Lincoln, there was a sense of justice to this: We dragged you away from that land in chains, maybe we should return you there as an act of restoration.

    Now that was wrong, and it was wrong because, well, nobody thought to ask black people whether they wanted to go back to Africa. To be sure, some did, which is why Liberia exists. But most didn’t.

    With Trump, there’s no sense of restoration or justice, just really a “go away and stop bothering me”.

    This difference seems pretty important to me.

    7
  18. CSK says:

    The loons over at Lucianne.com are singing Trump’s praises over this.

    5
  19. al Ameda says:

    Democrats are so lousy at politics.

    Their ongoing responses to Trump’s regular offensive bullsh** is: (1) we don’t want to stoop to his level and (2) a proforma statement denouncing his bullsh**. Well, (1) get over that ‘we’re above that’ approach, and (2) how about a response ad that goes after Trump, and plays that Access Hollywood audio where Trump brags about harassing women, while that picture of him with Jeffrey Epstein is running as background?

    Democrats keep bringing stale dated Kale Tofu to an automatic weapons festival. I’m tired of the routine failure to fight back.

    16
  20. mike shupp says:

    @Paine: Pelosi and the rest of the leadership just don’t seem to get what they are dealing with.

    Or maybe they do. I think Pelosi et al are in a bind. 40 per cent or so of the electorate sides with Trump and his crew, and half the remainder shrugs off liberal criticism of conservatives as just the same-old same-old of politics. So yes, there are a lot of ignorant, thuggish, racist crooks out there disgracing the nation and the Republican party, and it would be proper for liberals to call them out. But it won’t accomplish much except to please other liberals, and will likely encourage conservatives to redouble their lib-bashing.

    As I see it, liberals have three possible courses of action. (1) Armed resistance, from bumping off Republican politicians to civil war. I don’t recommend this. (2) Be patient and wait for the dumbest and most racist conservatives and their supporters to die off, expecting to triumph in the course of time. This worked for the early Christians, after all — it only took them 320 years or so win support from an emperor. Of course some of us don’t want to hold our breath that long. (3) Wait for changing circumstances which will make most of America’s liberal-vs-conservative squabbling unimportant. China’s rise to world prominence is one possibility, particularly if coupled with Indian rivalry. Man-caused global warming is another. Space colonization, genetic engineering, sea-bed mining, and other technologies could be game changers, And I’ve seen projections that the population of Africa may rise from 2 billion to 5 billion people by 2100 — it’s kind of hard to imagine that not somehow disrupting American equilibrium.

    I think Pelosi and other Democrats are betting on (2). My money’s on (3).

    5
  21. mattbernius says:

    @CSK:

    The loons over at Lucianne.com are singing Trump’s praises over this.

    Not surprisingly racists are gonna racist… especially when pwning the libs in involved.

    Oops, I mean people with a lot of economic anxiety are going to get even more anxious.

    [edit: bring on the phantom downvotes people who are too chickenshit to try and defend his tweet and own that you’re totally willing to vote for a racist provided he lowers taxes and you get some judges.

    If you don’t want to be considered racism then actually speak out against it. But downvote = I know I’m with the racist but I really wish you’d stop making me uncomfortable for calling that out…]

    11
  22. Gustopher says:

    It’s worth noting that this casual racist attitude is why separating kids from their families, and warehousing brown folks in overcrowded, unsanitary and in humane conditions at border concentration camps is acceptable to Trump and the people who find him acceptable.

    When their Potemkin Village Summer Camp For Scary Brown Men photo op shows them without enough room to lie down, you have to wonder about how they are being kept when they aren’t on display. We don’t have to wonder too much, we have photos from the IG report, except even there those may be the better conditions.

    It’s not that Trump and his toadies and followers don’t care, it’s that they do care, and the cruelty is what they care about.

    9
  23. Gustopher says:

    @Jay L Gischer: I’ll admit that I have a certain fondness for the racist statements of Lincoln. Some of his ideas he abandoned for logistical purposes, and on others he grew as he learned more, and despite all of that history, he’s responsible for emancipation.

    It makes me think there’s hope for a lot of people, no matter where they start. And that we don’t have to be perfect to do great things.

    4
  24. Andrew says:

    @mattbernius:

    If they had a backbone, they wouldn’t be so scared of everything that’s not white and white culture and white Jesus.
    Mad that people make fun of their insecurity. Mad that people do not take them seriously when they spout blatant bullsh!t.
    In their reality they are smart, brave, true Americans!
    They totally own the “liberals” or “libtards” with their hit and run tactics, and their propaganda bullish!t.
    But, when they do not have healthcare. Or their kids do not. I guess we all will still be the “

    Shrug.

    5
  25. Kathy says:

    Don’t you long for the days when “Senile old fool Twits something mean” wasn’t national news?

    8
  26. An Interested Party says:

    Every single Republican politician should be asked about this every time they are anywhere near a microphone…if you aren’t denouncing this, we can assume you are a racist too…I wonder what Tim Scott or Nikki Haley thinks of all of this…someone should ask them…

    6
  27. EddieInCA says:

    Can anyone post links to any Right of Center sites which have a story on this, please?

    National Review? Crickets.
    Hot Air? Crickets
    Twitchy? Crickets
    American Conservative? Crickets

    RedState: Two articles, both calling out Trump for stupidity.

    Anyone else?

    7
  28. mattbernius says:

    @EddieInCA:
    To its credit, The Bulwark authors have been calling this out on Twitter. If there isn’t an article there yet, I expect it’s forth coming.

    Larison had been critiquing this on Twitter, but it’s not his usual focus on AmCon. There is no question that the Nativist side of that pub have zero idea with this though…

    2
  29. An Interested Party says:

    Ahh…I see that Nikki Haley is more worried about other things…I wonder if anyone has ever told her to go back where she came from…

    5
  30. Hal_10000 says:

    See, here’s the thing. The Trump defenders always fall back on some excuse for his rotten behavior. Some reason why he’s not really a racist:

    1) Discrimination in rental properties? “Everyone was doing it and he wasn’t in charge.”
    2) Race-baiting on crime in the 90’s? “Everyone was panicking.”
    3) Race-bating on Japan? “Everyone was doing it.”
    4) Trying to have blacks vs. whites on the Apprentice? “It was just a silly idea.”
    5) Judge Curiel? “Well, he does have a hispanic name, so …”
    6) Mexicans sending rapists. “Well, some criminals come here illegally and …”
    7) Sh*thole countries?
    8) Puerto Rico?

    etc. etc.

    This is like a battered spouse making excuses for her abusive husband. At what point do you look at the long list of excuses and rationalizations and hedges and think … well, maybe there’s a problem here.

    14
  31. Modulo Myself says:

    @Hal_10000:

    This is like a battered spouse making excuses for her abusive husband.

    It’s completely unlike that, as a battered spouse is being beaten by her husband, and these people are not being attacked by Trump. I mean, do you think that Trump defenders are the victims of racism here when Trump says ‘Go back to Africa’ to a black person?

    6
  32. mattbernius says:

    @Hal_10000:
    This, man. This!

    3
  33. OzarkHillbilly says:

    Each and every one of these women is more American than d trump ever dreamed of being. He has no idea of what the gift of this country is. These women know. Even tho they have never received the full measure of the words in the declaration of independence, they believe whole heartedly in those words. trump on the other hand…

    5
  34. liberal capitalist says:

    Memorandum is serving up the news:

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-is-a-racist-if-you-still-support-him-so-are-you

    https://www.redstate.com/bonchie/2019/07/14/democrats-fight-civil-war-trump-strips-naked-runs-flailing-onto-battlefield/

    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/07/a-blunder-of-epic-proportions.php

    Yep, He’ll start acting presidential any day now, I hear.

    Maybe he did this to cover up this:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Trump_administration_dismissals_and_resignations

    in two years, Trump has burned out about 130 GOP appointees and loyalists in the White House… So maybe he’s actually keeping his promise of draining the swamp. 😉

    2
  35. Mister Bluster says:

    @gVOR08:..Many Republicans want to eliminate birthright citizenship. They don’t think such people are “real” citizens and Trump is playing to their feelings.

    Blithering idiots! All these Republicans who want to eliminate birthright citizenship, like Barb in the Boonies who claims birthright citizenship is “…foolish and dangerous to us all.” are citizens of The United States because the XIV Amendment says they are. They are all Birthright Citizens.
    If they are so convinced that birthright citizenship is a bad thing then they should all renounce their birthright citizenship and go live in England. Maybe the Brits will take them back.

    barbintheboonies says:
    Tuesday, November 6, 2018 at 08:05
    I feel birthright citizenship is foolish, and dangerous to us all.

    6
  36. Gustopher says:

    @Kathy:

    Don’t you long for the days when “Senile old fool Twits something mean” wasn’t national news?

    Your racist old grandpa is clutching the nuclear football again, muttering about Deep State conspiracies.

    1
  37. EddieInCA says:

    I’ve spent the last hour and a half reading comments on Powerline and The Resurgent. Both blogs had negative stories about Trump’s tweets, and it’s racist language, without rationalization or justifications. Both blogs think it’s a horrible mistake by Trump.

    HOWEVER….

    The commentators below the articles overwhelmingly think the writer of the post is mistaken and that it’s a “masterstroke” by Trump that will pay off for him. It’s depressing. Seriously depressing.

    5
  38. EddieInCA says:

    How do I bleach my brain? Asking for a friend.

    5
  39. James Joyner says:

    @Mister Bluster:

    They are all endowed with Birthright Citizenship under the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.
    Ms. Ilhan Omar is a naturalized citizen per the same amendment.

    AOC was born in the Bronx to US citizen parents. Her father was also born in the Bronx. Her mother was born in Puerto Rico, a US territory, and thus a natural-born citizen. Pressley was born in Chicago and her parents seem to likewise be native-born Americans. And naturalization isn’t discussed in the 14th Amendment.

    @EddieInCA: I’m not sure I’d expect much from the other sites. I’d be surprised if NR doesn’t get something up soon; I don’t know whether they post over the weekend.

    @mattbernius: The Bulwark was born out of the ashes of the Weekly Standard and its basic brand is Trump Isn’t a Conservative and Doesn’t Speak for Us. I’m not even sure how I’d characterize Larison on domestic politics but, yes, his entire beat is non-interventionism in foreign affairs.

    @Mister Bluster: A

    ll these Republicans who want to eliminate birthright citizenship, like Barb in the Boonies who claims birthright citizenship is “…foolish and dangerous to us all.” are citizens of The United States because the XIV Amendment says they are. They are all Birthright Citizens. If they are so convinced that birthright citizenship is a bad thing then they should all renounce their birthright citizenship and go live in England. Maybe the Brits will take them back.

    This is a weird response. It was the case before the 14th Amendment that those born in the US to US-citizen parents were automatically citizens. What the 14th Amendment sought to clarify is that former slaves and their descendants were to be full citizens.

    I think it’s a very good thing that people can become Americans regardless of their national origin. In Germany, for example—a very free society—third-generation Turks are still Turks, not German. But I’m not sure that it’s useful for the children of illegal immigrants to automatically be granted citizenship and all the rights that go with it.

    @EddieInCA:

    The commentators below the articles overwhelmingly think the writer of the post is mistaken and that it’s a “masterstroke” by Trump that will pay off for him. It’s depressing. Seriously depressing.

    Yes. It’s got to be hard to do serious analysis at those sort of sites. The PowerLine guys, in particular, are quite bright. But because they’ve chosen to tow the party line almost exclusively for so long, their readership is shocked when there’s pushback against even the most outrageous conduct.

    3
  40. mattbernius says:

    The Bulwark was born out of the ashes of the Weekly Standard and its basic brand is Trump Isn’t a Conservative and Doesn’t Speak for Us.

    Will put James. Yeah, their opposition isn’t a shock.

    2
  41. Barry says:

    (Deleted by commenter)

  42. grumpy realist says:

    @James Joyner: The benefit of birthright citizenship is that it provides a bright line and is, for most people, pretty easy to prove.

    The U.K. has been showing what happens when you don’t have a birthright citizenship definition coupled with a bureaucracy looking for reasons to kick non-pasty-pale people out of the country. The Home Office seems to be nothing more than an incompetent bunch of arrogant tossers with too much power and little integrity.

    3
  43. MarkedMan says:

    @grumpy realist: @James Joyner: I’m either misreading James’ comment or he is misinterpreting birthright citizenship. Here’s a short definition:

    [It] grants U.S. citizenship to anybody born on U.S. soil.

    So in the main anyone born in US territory to parents who arrived after the founding of the country are birthright citizens. If the US eliminated birthright citizenship, the only way to become a citizen is to a) become a naturalized citizen, b) be born to a naturalized citizen, or be the direct descendant of someone who became a citizen by benefit of living in the original thirteen colonies when the US was formed. This affects a lot more people than you think. I know my parents became citizens but I’m not sure whether they did so before or after I was born. And I’m not sure what percentage of immigrants actually became citizens. Many couldn’t read or write or even speak English, which I believe is a requirement for the citizenship test. Many just never got around to it. Did Trump’s grandfather? He was a busy guy and it wasn’t necessary to do so in order to enjoy full rights when he came over from royalist Germany.

    2
  44. Mister Bluster says:

    James Joyner:..naturalization isn’t discussed in the 14th Amendment.

    United States Constitution: Amendment XIV, Paragraph 1
    All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

    Why am I confused?

    2
  45. MarkedMan says:

    @MarkedMan: This has really got me thinking. What percentage of current US citizens were not born of naturalized or original (pre-1792) citizens? I bet it is very, very high.

    1
  46. Mister Bluster says:

    @MarkedMan:..If the US eliminated birthright citizenship, the only way to become a citizen is to a) become a naturalized citizen, b) be born to a naturalized citizen, or be the direct descendant of someone who became a citizen by benefit of living in the original thirteen colonies when the US was formed.

    United States Constitution
    Article II, Section 1
    No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President;…

    It appears that eliminating birthright citizenship would severly limit the number of persons who would qualify to be President USA.

  47. Paul L. says:

    Islam is not a race.

    1
  48. Moosebreath says:

    Meanwhile, we now have the Republican response to Trump’s comments. In addition to them being from sh!thole countries, they are Communists as well. Therefore, no need to apologize:

    “Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of President Donald Trump’s strongest allies on Capitol Hill, declined on Monday to condemn the President over his racist tweets against several minority members of Congress, instead calling them a “bunch of communists.””

    2
  49. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @Paul L.: Umm… your point?

    3
  50. Andrew says:

    I want to ask Trump supporters what is more important:

    Pissing off the “Liberals”?
    Or
    Bringing back Jim Crow laws?

    3
  51. Neil Hudelson says:

    @Just nutha ignint cracker:

    The day Paul L has a point will be a cold day in hell.

    5
  52. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @Andrew: Both? But seriously, bringing back the Jim Crow era would be most important because it would piss off liberals. No brainer. (That’s why Trump probably doesn’t even think that way.)

    2
  53. James Joyner says:

    @grumpy realist: @MarkedMan: @Mister Bluster: From Wikipedia:

    Throughout the history of the United States, the fundamental legal principle governing citizenship has been that birth within the United States grants U.S. citizenship; although enslaved persons and children of enslaved mothers, under the principle of partus sequitur ventrem, were excluded.[27] The United States did not grant citizenship after the American Civil War to all former slaves until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which was subsequently confirmed by the Fourteenth Amendment. American Indian tribal members are not covered specifically by the constitutional guarantee. Those living in tribes on reservations were generally not considered citizens until passage of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, although by that time nearly two-thirds of American Indians were already citizens.

    English common law
    Birthright citizenship, as with much United States law, has its roots in English common law.[28] Calvin’s Case, 77 Eng. Rep. 377 (1608),[30] was particularly important as it established that, under English common law, “a person’s status was vested at birth, and based upon place of birth—a person born within the king’s dominion owed allegiance to the sovereign, and in turn, was entitled to the king’s protection.”[31] This same principle was accepted by the United States as being “ancient and fundamental”, i.e., well-established common law, as stated by the Supreme Court in 1898: “the Fourteenth Amendment affirms the ancient and fundamental rule of citizenship by birth within the territory, in the allegiance and under the protection of the country, including all children here born of resident aliens, with the exceptions or qualifications (as old as the rule itself) of children of foreign sovereigns or their ministers, or born on foreign public ships, or of enemies within and during a hostile occupation.

    The 14th Amendment was, in this case, just trying to establish firmly that 1) former slaves and their descendents were US citizens and 2) states can’t create separate citizenship rules circumventing 1.

    As a practical matter, I agree that a blanket rule “you’re born here, you’re a citizen” is easy. But it strikes me as reasonable to exclude from that persons whose parents are here illegally, and especially here illegally for the purpose of having their child born in the US to garner citizenship. Whether that’s worth the headache administering it would create, I honestly don’t know.

    @Mister Bluster The word “naturalization” is mentioned but not defined, indicating that it references pre-existing law.

  54. Grumpy realist says:

    Unfortunately your system would be awfully hard to implement. And what are you going to do in the many cases where one of the parents is a US citizen and the other isn’t?

    I suggest you read up on the whole Windrush scandal and all the other citizenship scandals the Home Office has been involved in before suggesting we do away with birthright citizenship here in the US. I suspect that what you would find is “white people dont get checked, anyone else does.”

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  55. aggghhh! says:

    @Paine:
    Yeah, what does it take to get an Impeachment??.. Aggravated Murder in Cold Blood??..
    He’s been way off course since 2017!!…