House condemns Trump 'racist' tweets in extraordinary rebuke

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a remarkable political repudiation, the Democratic-led House voted tonight to condemn President Donald Trump's "racist comments" against four congresswomen of color, despite protestations by Trump's Republican congressional allies and his own insistence he hasn't "a racist bone in my body."

Two days after Trump tweeted that four Democratic freshmen should "go back" to their home countries – though all are citizens and three were born in the U.S.A. – Democrats muscled the resolution through the chamber by 240-187 over strong GOP opposition. The rebuke was an embarrassing one for Trump, and he had appealed to GOP lawmakers not to go along, but there were four Republican votes for the resolution.

The measure carries no legal repercussions for the president and the vote was highly partisan, unlikely to cost him with his die-hard conservative base.

Before the showdown roll call, Trump characteristically plunged forward with time-tested insults. He accused his four outspoken critics of "spewing some of the most vile, hateful and disgusting things ever said by a politician" and added, "If you hate our Country, or if you are not happy here, you can leave!" – echoing taunts long unleashed against political dissidents rather than opposing parties' lawmakers.

The president was joined by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and other top Republicans in trying to redirect the focus from Trump's original tweets, which for three days have consumed Washington and drawn widespread condemnation.

Instead, they tried playing offense by accusing the four congresswomen – among the Democrats' most left-leaning members and ardent Trump critics – of socialism, an accusation that's already a central theme of the GOP's 2020 presidential and congressional campaigns.

Even after two-and-a-half years of Trump's turbulent governing style, the spectacle of a president futilely laboring to head off a House vote essentially proclaiming him to be a racist was extraordinary.

Underscoring the stakes, Republicans formally objected after Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said during a floor speech that Trump's tweets were "racist." Led by Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, Republicans moved to have her words stricken from the record, a rare procedural rebuke.

After a delay exceeding 90 minutes, No. 2 House Democrat Steny Hoyer of Maryland ruled that Pelosi had indeed violated a House rule against characterizing an action as racist. Hoyer was presiding after Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri stormed away from the presiding officer's chairman, lamenting, "We want to just fight," which he apparently aimed at Republicans. Despite Hoyer's ruling, Democrats flexed their muscle and the House voted afterward by party-line to leave Pelosi's words intact in the record.