WATCH: Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez give the perfect response to the ‘complete hypocrisy’ of Trump’s attacks

Following President Donald Trump’s racist broadside over the weekend, the four Democratic congresswomen who have become the focus of his wrath held a press conference to respond to his bigotry.

Reps. Ilhan Omar (MN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Rashida Tlaib (MI), and Ayanna Pressley (MA) spoke to reporters about the impact and meaning behind the president’s tweets demanding that they “go back” to their countries. It was a racist attack on any level, but particularly absurd given Omar was the only one of the group who wasn’t born in the United States. Trump, like many of his right-wing allies in the media, argued that the congresswomen’s criticisms of the country and his administration’s policies mean they’re anti-American and ungrateful.

The lawmakers argued that the president’s racism is a distraction from his destructive policies, particularly regarding the environment, health care, and the abusive conditions in which immigrants have been held by the Department of Homeland Security.

Near the end of the press conference, Omar and Ocasio-Cortez offered comments that succinctly cut to the heart of the obvious prejudice and hypocrisy in Trump’s attacks — and the weakness they reveal.

“Every single comment that we make is from a place of extreme love for every single person in this country,” said Omar. “It is part of the mandate of why we ran for office and why we got elected.”

She continued: “Now when people say, ‘If you say a negative thing about the policies in this country, you hate this country,’ to me, it sort of speaks to the hypocrisy — and Alex and I were talking about this — when this president ran and until today, he talked about everything that was wrong in this country and how he was going to make it great. And so for him to condemn us and to say we are un-American for wanting to work hard to make the country be the country we all deserve to live in — it’s complete hypocrisy.”

Ocasio-Cortez then came to the lectern, delivering the closing answer of the press conference.

“Weak minds and leaders challenge loyalty to our country in order to avoid challenging and debating the policy,” she said. “This president does not know how to make the argument that Americans do not deserve health care. He does not know how to defend his policies — so what he does is attack us personally. And that is what this is all about. He can’t look a child in the face and he can’t look all Americans in the face and justify why this country is throwing them in cages. So instead, he tells us that I should go back to the great borough of the Bronx and make it better. And that’s what I’m here to do.”

Watch the video below:

https://www.alternet.org/2019/07/watch-ilhan-omar-and-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-give-the-perfect-response-to-the-complete-hypocrisy-of-trumps-attacks/?fbclid=IwAR2T6fvQDUDzQGBnJXfhRMv3JqDsnP3ifgbEPpdVQBD8RAw-mKNMvXagCyo