Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib called for President Donald Trump to be deported in 2015, four years before he fired off the tweet directed at “the squad” suggesting they “go back” to where they came from.
In the aftermath of the San Bernardino shooting in 2015, then-candidate Trump had called for a “total and complete shutdown” of the border to Muslims coming into the United States.
Tlaib shared an article about Trump’s policy proposal, along with the comment, “Deport this asshole!”
Deport this asshole! https://t.co/pXTah0hTot
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) December 7, 2015
Tlaib was not the only “squad” member to have called for someone’s deportation.
Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar suggested that someone arguing with her on Twitter ought to be deported in a recently resurfaced 2012 tweet. (RELATED: Ilhan Omar: ‘Racist’ Trump ‘Wants Every Black/Brown Person Deported And Muslims Banned’)
@jworiah1 @stevepratico @bemetor5 @somalisijui we are citizens & can’t be deported, why don’t we deport you to where ever you came from
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) October 5, 2012
The account to which Omar was directly replying was private, but her comment came at the end of a long thread discussing whether immigrants should hold onto their ancestral culture or fully adopt the culture of their new home country.
The conversation was sparked by comments from Mayor Robert Macdonald of Lewiston, Maine, who had told the BBC that immigrants should “accept our culture and leave your culture at the door.”
President Trump has received harsh criticism over the last couple of weeks after he tweeted about the progressive congresswomen “who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe” and suggested that they “go back” to those countries.
….and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019
The president’s tweets were widely panned as “racist,” and Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed his words were the “hallmark language of white supremacists” and they were proof that Trump was “comfortable leading the GOP into outright racism.”
It’s important to note that the President’s words yday, telling four American Congresswomen of color “go back to your own country,” is hallmark language of white supremacists.
Trump feels comfortable leading the GOP into outright racism, and that should concern all Americans.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 15, 2019