The House of Representatives voted to condemn comments President Donald Trump made over the weekend telling four liberal Democratic congresswomen of color that they should "go back" to the countries they came from.
The resolution passed Tuesday afternoon along a mostly party-line vote of 240-187. Several Republican lawmakers had denied Trump is a racist and urged their colleagues to oppose the Democratic measure, according to The Associated Press.
The resolution said the House "strongly condemns" Trump's "racist comments that have legitimized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color."
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Original report: The proposal condemns "President Donald Trump's racist comments," which "have legitimized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color," according to the resolution. It was introduced Monday night by Polish-born Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD).
Trump set off a firestorm Sunday when he wrote in a series of tweets that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) should go back to the "totally broken and crime infested places from which they came." He did not name the congresswomen in his tweets.
He defended his comments Monday, telling reporters the congresswomen are "very unhappy" and "hate our country."
"I'm watching them – all they do is complain," Trump said. "So, all I'm saying is, if they want to leave, they can leave."
His comments drew criticism from Democrats and some Republicans, who said his words were xenophobic and racist. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the president's Twitter posts made it clear that "his plan to 'Make America Great Again' has always been about making America white again."
Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) told CNN on Monday that Trump's comments were "racist and xenophobic" and represented "behavior that's unbecoming of the leader of the free world."
Trump defended his comments again Tuesday, writing in a series of tweets that his comments "were NOT Racist."
"I don't have a Racist bone in my body!" the president wrote.
He added that the scheduled resolution vote "is a Democrat con game" and suggested lawmakers instead turn their focus to "the filthy language, statements and lies told by the Democrat Congresswomen, who I truly believe, based on their actions, hate our Country."
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