Mitch McConnell: It’s ‘Not Good for the Country’ to Condemn Trump’s Racism

July 16th 2019

Mitch McConnell- Caricature (DonkeyHotey)

By Oliver Willis

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell insisted on Tuesday that Trump’s racist tweets over the weekend — in which he told four Democratic House Representatives who are all women of color to “go back” to their countries of origin — are not racist.

During his weekly press conference, the highest-ranking congressional Republican also said it is “not good” for America to condemn Trump’s statements.

“The president’s not a racist,” McConnell told reporters. “I think the tone of all of this is not good for the country.”

Trump has been widely condemned for his racist attacks on Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. House Democrats introduced a resolution seeking to rebuke Trump’s attack.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and the rest of the Republican House leadership are demanding that their caucus oppose the Democratic anti-bigotry resolution. Trump praised McCarthy for supporting him.

While insisting that Trump is not racist, McConnell is also suggesting that Trump’s critics are equally at fault.

“To single out any segment of this, I think it’s a mistake,” McConnell said, dismissing concerns about Trump’s bigoted rhetoric that have been raised by allieslike Canada and the United Kingdom. He added that the bigotry “is coming from all ideological points of view.”

While some Republicans eventually spoke out to criticize Trump’s racist attacks, Republican leaders like McConnell and McCarthy are standing with Trump and defending his deliberate use of side of racial hatred and xenophobia.

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