Republican leaders addressed President Trump's feud with "the Squad" of four freshman Democratic lawmakers during a Tuesday press conference on Capitol Hill. Trump tweeted that Reps. Ilhan Omar (MN), Rashida Tlaib (MI), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) and Ayanna Pressley (MA) should "go back" to where they came from if they hate America so much.
"No," GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy said when asked if he believes the president’s tweets were racist. The real issue, McCarthy said, was ideology.
"This is socialism versus freedom," McCarthy said.
He was echoing the earlier sentiments of his colleague Liz Cheney, who serves as the House Republican Conference chairwoman.
Happening Now: House GOP holding press briefing@Liz_Cheney: "Our opposition to our socialist colleagues has absolutely nothing to do with their gender, with their religion, or with their race. It has to do with the content of their policies." @OANN
— Stephanie Myers (@_StephanieMyers) July 16, 2019
"We oppose them and their policies because their policies are dangerous and wrong and would destroy America," she added. "The issue is the content of their policies, and we will continue to stand up and fight for the nation."
Democrats are expected to vote on a resolution today to condemn President's Trump's tweets about "the Squad." Republicans like Sen. Ted Cruz (TX) are pushing back at that vote, wondering why Nancy Pelosi and the like could not do the same for the resolution to condemn Rep. Omar's anti-Semitic language.
White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway added a few exclamation points to that argument.
"Why the hell can't we condemn anti-Semitism?!" she sounded off on Fox News.