WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump renewed his attacks on Sunday on four Democratic congresswomen he launched xenophobic tweets against last week, demanding they apologise “for the horrible (hateful) things they have said.”
“I don’t believe the four Congresswomen are capable of loving our Country,” Trump tweeted of ethnic-minority first-term Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley. “They should apologise to America (and Israel) for the horrible (hateful) things they have said. They are destroying the Democrat Party, but are weak & insecure people who can never destroy our great Nation!” the president tweeted.
The comments come a week after Trump sparked a firestorm of outrage when he attacked the left-leaning lawmakers in a series of tweets, saying they should “go back” to their countries of origin. The group — all American citizens, three of whom were born in the United States —are of Hispanic, Arab, Somali when a small group of them stormed the legislature earlier this month. Their main demands include universal suffrage direct voting rights for all Hong Kong residents as well as dropping charges against anti-extradition protesters, withdrawing the characterization of a clash between police and protesters as a “riot” and dissolving the Legislative Council.
Protesters read the demands aloud in both English and Cantonese in videos released on Saturday. “We did not want to embark on this path of resisting tyranny with our bare bodies,” they said, “but for too long, our government has lied and deceived, and refused to respond to the demands of the people.”
While the demonstrations have been largely peaceful, some confrontations between police and protesters have turned violent.
In Sha Tin district the previous Sunday, they beat each other with umbrellas and bats inside a luxury shopping center. Demonstrators broke into the Legislative Council building on July 1 by moving past barricades and shattering windows. Meanwhile, police officers have used pepper spray, tear gas, bean bag rounds and rubber bullets to quell the crowds.