Washington: The US House of Representatives has passed a bill to condemn US President Donald Trump for his “racist remarks” against four Democratic congresswomen.
The vote, 240 for and 187 against, on Tuesday fell largely along party lines, with four Republican lawmakers voting alongside the Democrats. Justin Amash, an independent lawmaker that recently left the Republican Party, also voted yes.
The bill, titled “Condemning President Trump’s racist comments directed at members of Congress,” was a reaction to a string of Trump’s tweets that had told four congresswomen of colour to “go back” to the “places from which they came”, reported Xinhua news agency.
The targeted Congresswomen were Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. While Omar was born in Somalia and later moved to Minnesota, the other three were born in the US.
“Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came,” Trump tweeted on Sunday.
“If you are not happy here, you can leave,” Trump said at a news conference outside the White House on Monday.
“This is what racism looks like. We are what democracy looks like,” Pressley said. “And we’re not going anywhere.”
Tensions ran high before the House proceeded with the vote Tuesday, as lawmakers from both parties were locked in heated debate.
Trump tweeted on Tuesday that “I don’t have a racist bone in my body!”
According to the Pew Research Center, there are currently 52 voting members in the House and 16 members in the Senate who are immigrants or children of immigrants.
