BOSTON (WHDH) - Rep. Ayanna Pressley is continuing to push back on criticism from President Donald Trump, telling participants at a march in Boston Sunday the president’s tweets are a distraction from bigger issues.
“I think we all have to not take the bait and get off the ride that the occupant of this oval office has us on,” Pressley said at a unity march in Roxbury. “Every tweet he sends is meant to be a distraction from the real problems that this country is facing.”
Referring to “the Squad,” a group of four minority female congresswomen including Pressley, Trump wrote on Twitter Sunday “I don’t believe the four congresswomen are capable of loving our country,” and said they should apologize for their “hateful” comments.
Last week, Trump told those congresswomen — Pressley, Rep. Ihan Omar of Minnesota, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, to go back to where they came from. Three of them were born in the U.S., with Omar being born in Somalia and becoming a citizen in 2000.
“I am proud to be an American, I love this country, I challenge it because I want it to live up to its ideals and promises and I do that from a place of love,” Pressley said SUnday. “There is no anger here.”
Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconson defended Trump’s comments.
“I would say in general the whole ‘America, love it or leave it’ is not a new sentiment. That wasn’t considered racist,” Johnson said.
Pressley said while Trump claims the Squad is hurting the country, the hurt is coming from the president.
“This administration has been corrupt, callous, chaotic and this is simply a distraction from the real issues of care and consequence to the American people, and that is what i am focused on,” Pressley said.
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