Trump Says Progressive Freshman Congresswomen Can ‘Go Wherever They Want’ or ‘Stay’ but Has One Condition

President Donald Trump (C) talks with journalists during a cabinet meeting with (L-R) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, acting Defense Secretary Richard Spencer, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and others at the White House in Washington on July 16, 2019. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Donald Trump continued to defend his remarks during a cabinet meeting on July 16, saying that the progressive congresswomen he has been publicly feuding with can “go wherever they want” or “stay” but “should love our country.”

“It’s up to them. Go wherever they want, or they can stay. But they should love our country. They shouldn’t hate our country.  I have clips right here. The most vile, horrible statements about our country, about Israel, about others,” Trump said when a reporter asked him where the congresswomen should go. “It’s up to them. They can do what they want. They can leave they can stay but they should love our country and they should work for the good of our country.”

His comments come amid a fiery feud between him and four far-left members of the Democratic party—Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashia Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.).

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) speak at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on July 15, 2019. Holly Kellum/NTD

Trump has accused the four freshman congresswomen of being anti-semitic and anti-American in a series of posts between July 14 and 16, where he most notably called on “‘progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen” to “go back” to their countries to help fix the “totally broken and crime-infested places” before returning to the United States to “show us how it is done.” Apart from Omar, who was born in Somalia, the other three far-left congresswomen were born in the United States.

Many of Trump’s opponents denounced the comments, calling them racist. Moreover, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also weighed in, describing the remarks as “xenophobic” and accusing the president of “making America white again.”

But Trump showed no signs of backing down when asked during the cabinet meeting about his Twitter posts and comments he made about the four freshman lawmakers.

President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters during his 'Made In America' product showcase at the White House in Washington on July 15, 2019. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

“I think it’s terrible when people speak so badly about our country when people speak so horribly. I have a list of things here—I’m not going to bore you with it because you would be bored. You wouldn’t write it anyway,” he said.

He continued, “But I have a list of things here said by the congresswomen that [are] so bad, so horrible that I almost don’t want to read it, it’s so bad. I think what you should do is: You have the same list that I do. You should repeat some of that. When the Democrats didn’t want to mention the name of the congresswoman, not so long ago, and what they did and the way they’re treating Israel is a disgrace.”

“But not only Israel, what they say about our country. It’s my opinion they hate our country. And that’s not good. It’s not acceptable,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Trump denied the accusations that he was being racist in his Twitter posts, saying “I don’t have a Racist bone in my body,” while referring to a proposed resolution to condemn the president’s alleged racist posts.

“The so-called vote to be taken is a Democrat con game. Republicans should not show ‘weakness’ and fall into their trap,” he continued. “This should be a vote on the filthy language, statements and lies told by the Democrat Congresswomen, who I truly believe, based on their actions, hate our Country. Get a list of the HORRIBLE things they have said.”

Following the posts, Ocasio-Cortez hit back with more criticism toward the president.

“You’re right, Mr. President - you don’t have a racist bone in your body. You have a racist mind in your head, and a racist heart in your chest,” she said.

Ocasio-Cortez and the three other congresswomen also held a press conference on July 15 to denounce the president’s comments as well as criticize Trump.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) speak at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on July 15, 2019. Holly Kellum/NTD

Trump’s attorney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani came out to defend the president saying, the president confronted the “progressive” members of the Democratic party because Democrats are afraid to stand up to them.

“Since the Dems are afraid to stand up to AOC, Omar, Tlaib et al, hateful and ignorant criticism of our law enforcement and federal agents, and their support of economic destruction of our ally Israel. [Trump] has to do it for them. After all, he is supposed to defend America,” Giuliani said in a Twitter post on July 16.

Along with Giuliani, other prominent political commentators and figures came to the president’s defense.

“I honestly do not see how anyone who loves America can vote Democrat. This is NOT the party of JFK or even Obama. This is some lab experiment gone horribly wrong,” host of Your Voice America, Bill Mitchell said in a post.

The president also noted on July 16 in a series of new Twitter posts that Democrats are “petrified” to rebuke the progressives in their party for “some of the most vile, hateful, and disgusting things ever said by a politician in the House or Senate.”

“The Democrat Congresswomen have been spewing some of the most vile, hateful, and disgusting things ever said by a politician in the House or Senate, & yet they get a free pass and a big embrace from the Democrat Party,” Trump said on Twitter.

“Horrible anti-Israel, anti-USA, pro-terrorist & public shouting of the F…word, among many other terrible things, and the petrified Dems run for the hills.”