‘Agenda of white nationalists’: Democratic congresswomen attacked by Trump call for impeachment

WASHINGTON - The four Democratic congresswomen of color who were the targets of President Donald Trump's controversial tweets held a news conference on Monday on Capitol Hill after Trump doubled down on his comments earlier in the day. 

U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., stood side by side at the podium. 

"It is time for us to impeach this president" for "openly violating" his constitutional oath, Omar said. 

"I believe we are in a pivotal moment in our country. The eyes of history are watching us," she said. "This is a president who has overseen the most corrupt administration in our history." 

She called Trump’s agenda that of “white nationalists.” 

“This is the agenda of white nationalists, whether it is happening in chat rooms or it’s happening on national TV. And now it’s reached the White House garden,” she said. 

Tlaib also called for impeachment.

“We know that he and his administration are constantly engaged in actions that harm residents and the American people in our country,” she said. “I urge House leadership, many of my colleagues, to take action to impeach this lawless president today.”

She also called his recent tweets a “continuation of his racist and xenophobic playbook.” 

“We cannot allow these hateful actions by the president to distract us from the critical work to hold this administration accountable to the inhumane conditions at the border that is separating children from their loved ones and caging them up in illegal, horrific conditions,” she said. “This means supporting an impeachment inquiry of this president and his actions by the administration and his appointees.”

Ocasio-Cortez said that "no matter what the president says," the country "belongs to everyone.“

“Weak minds and leaders challenge loyalty to our country in order to avoid challenging and debating the policy,” the congresswoman said. “He does not know how to defend his policies. So what he does is attack us personally.”

“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,” she said. 

Pressley referred to Trump as “the occupant of the White House,” calling his remarks “xenophobic, bigoted.” She said Trump’s racist tweets are a “disruptive distraction from the issues.” 

"I encourage the American people and all of us, in this room and beyond, to not take the bait," she said. 

"At the end of the day, if we improve the conditions of children in a cage, they are still in a cage," Pressley said. "This is simply a disruption and a distraction from the callous, chaotic and corrupt culture of this administration all the way down. We want to get back to the business of the American people, and why we were sent here.“

She also said their “squad” is big.

“Despite the occupant of the White House’s attempt to marginalize us and silence us, please know that we are more than four people,” Pressley said. “Our squad is big. Our squad includes any person committed to building a more equitable and just world. And that is the work that we want to get back to.” 

“We cannot and will not be silenced,” she said. 

Fox TV Stations’ Hyeji Suh contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.