Rep. Cheney: Democrats unwilling to condemn members of their own party
Rep. Liz Cheney react to House resolution condemning Trump's comments about four congresswomen.
I fundamentally disagree on issues of policy and politics with four far-left Democratic congresswomen who were attacked by President Trump in an angry tweet Sunday and again in later comments. But I agree with the action by the House Tuesday night to condemn the president for what I consider his unacceptable and racist attack against the four congresswomen.
The House voted 240-187 to approve a resolution titled “Condemning President Trump’s racist comments directed at Members of Congress.” Every Democrat voted for the resolution. Four Republicans and former Republican Justin Amash of Michigan joined Democrats in the vote. The remaining House Republicans voted against the resolution.
Our democracy is founded on the fundamental belief that people of different races, ethnicities, religions, cultures and perspectives are all equal and can share their ideologies and opinions in an effort to make our nation better, fairer and more just for all.
Progressive Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts held a press conference Monday to respond to the president’s attacks on them, calling him a racist and saying they would continue fighting against him and his policies.
Without naming them but making clear who he was talking about, President Trump tweeted Sunday that the four congresswomen should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done.”
“IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY HERE, YOU CAN LEAVE!” the President tweeted later Sunday, and then further amplified his remarks in comments to the media.
All four congresswomen are American citizens. Only Omar was not born in the U.S.
Trump’s attacks elicited widespread condemnation, mostly from Democrats – but even from some members of his own party – and were labeled racist, unacceptable and unpresidential.
However, to be clear, while the level of infighting within the Democratic Party is the result of the most extreme leftist factions clashing with the moderate party leadership, I believe that President Trump’s love-it-or-leave-it attacks against these representatives are completely unacceptable and overtly racist.
While the conflict between the president and the four junior members of Congress – who have become known as the Squad – is now center stage, just last week these same four members were responsible for disastrous and divisive conflict within the Democratic Party.
House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi took issue with the four representatives last week during a caucus meeting for an offensive tweet by Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, which was quickly deleted, comparing ideologically moderate Democratic officials of today to Southern segregationist Democrats from more than half a century ago.
Ocasio-Cortez responded to Pelosi by accusing her of “the explicit singling out of newly elected women of color.”
In response, Pelosi reportedly told lawmakers behind closed doors: “You got a complaint? You come and talk to me about it. But do not tweet about our members and expect us to think that that is just OK.”
However, to be clear, while the level of infighting within the Democratic Party is the result of the most extreme leftist factions clashing with the moderate party leadership, I believe that President Trump’s love-it-or-leave-it attacks against these representatives are completely unacceptable and overtly racist.
The epithet of “going back to your country” has a long and painful racist history in America. This was what decedents of slaves were told after being in America for generations, what Chinese people were told while the government implemented the Chinese Exclusion Act, and what American children of color were told when slowly integrating all-white schools in the decades after the Supreme Court outlawed “separate but equal” segregated schools in 1951.
Indeed, it is critical that Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, Omar, and Pressley work with their Democratic allies in Congress in a cooperative and conciliatory way, and in a way that does not sow further divisions within the party.
Put simply, all Democrats are fighting a battle against President Trump, and while disagreements within the party are inevitable, comments like Ocasio-Cortez’s insinuating that Pelosi is a racist only further divide the party and strengthen Trump’s chances for reelection.
Further, unlike these freshman representatives, Pelosi clearly understands that the Democrats only have one-half of one branch of government, and cannot afford to fight with each other at their own expense.
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With the Iowa caucuses looming large, it's critical for Pelosi and the Democrats to be tactical and compromise for the good of the country, and not allow the loudest most left-leaning voices of the party to derail the Democrats’ agenda or their chance of victory in 2020.
The president’s attack on the Squad united Democrats. They need to preserve that unity to replace him with whoever their party nominates as its presidential candidate next year.
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