Santa Barbara Congressmember Salud Carbajal denounced President Donald Trump’s recent tweets demanding that four Democratic congressmembers who’ve been sharply critical of his policies “go back to the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came” as “absolutely, unequivocally, and 100 percent racist.” All four of the congressmembers in question are women of color; three were born in the U.S.; one is a naturalized U.S. citizen. Carbajal, who was born in Mexico and immigrated to the U.S. when he was 5, is also a naturalized citizen.
Carbajal made his remarks at a press conference and on the House floor when voting for a resolution condemning Trump’s “racist comments” for legitimizing “fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color.” The resolution passed 240-187.
Trump has issued multiple tweets denying that his comments were racist or that he had a “racist bone in my body.” Carbajal, a staunch Democrat who campaigns on the virtues of bipartisan collaboration, called on Republicans to respond similarly. “This is an opportunity for my Republican colleagues to step up and call these racist remarks what they are.”