July 15, 2019

Trump Stages Full-Blown, Racist Meltdown at “Made in America” Event

“If you hate our country, if you’re not happy here, you can leave.”

Alex Brandon/AP

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President Donald Trump on Monday further escalated his racist attacks against four Democratic congresswomen of color who have been sharply critical of his presidency by telling the freshmen lawmakers that they were free to “leave” the country if they were unhappy with his administration.

“If you’re not happy here, then you can leave,” Trump told reporters in a chaotic news conference for a “Made in America” event at the White House. “As far as I’m concerned, if you hate our country, if you’re not happy here, you can leave.”

He then dismissed the firestorm he created on Sunday after targeting a group of freshmen Democrats—all of whom are American citizens with only one born outside of the US—telling them in nakedly racist terms to “go back” and fix their home countries. “A lot of people love it, by the way. A lot of people love it,” Trump said on Monday, referring to the incendiary tweetstorm, which has since drawn fierce condemnation from Democrats, but few reactions from Republicans. 

At certain moments of the press conference, Trump appeared to almost revel in the attention his racist attacks have attracted. He also singled out Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), falsely accusing the lawmaker of embracing Al-Qaeda while hating the United States. Omar is one of the first two Muslim women ever elected to Congress.

“In one case, you have somebody that comes from Somalia, which is a failed government, a failed state, who left Somalia, who ultimately came here and now is a congresswoman who’s never happy,” the president said in a rant. “Says horrible things about Israel, hates Israel! Hates Jews, hates Jews! It’s very simple.”

Some in the audience for the “Made in America” event applauded the president’s remarks. He repeatedly ignored reporters’ questions, several of whom asked where he preferred the congresswomen to go to register their discontent. 

The press conference, paired with his tweets earlier Monday demanding an apology from the congresswomen, was the latest signal that the president had no intention of backing down from his racist attacks. 

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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