'Send Her Back' Chant Was A Dagger Through My Heart, Says GOP Congressman
The racist chant that resounded through Donald Trump’s political rally last week was like a “dagger that went through my heart,” North Carolina GOP Rep. Mark Walker told CNN on Monday.
Earlier this month, Trump launched a string of attacks on four progressive congresswomen of color when he said that Rep. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) should “go back” to where they came from. All but Omar were born in the U.S.
Then, during a rally in North Carolina last week, Trump targeted Omar in his speech, which prompted thousands of his supporters to chant: “Send her back!”
The congressman, a former Baptist minister, was in the Greenville arena when Trump’s supporters demanded that Omar leave the country.
Rep. Mark Walker says President Trump's attacks on his critics "isn't something necessarily that we all agree with, but nevertheless this is part of his winning strategy." https://t.co/5lgyKhKrdt pic.twitter.com/MzDlmjWKrT
— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) July 22, 2019
“I do not want to support in any way, shape or fashion, a phrase that for decades has been represented to hurt people in the minority communities,” Walker told Wolf Blitzer.
“As a former minister we have worked years in the inner cities,” Walker added. “The minority communities that value or put a little bit of trust and value in what we’re trying to do in Washington, I immediately thought of those folks.”
Walker’s statement on CNN was far more negative than the tweet he posted right after the rally:
Though it was brief, I struggled with the “send her back” chant tonight referencing Rep. Omar. Her history, words & actions reveal her great disdain for both America & Israel. That should be our focus and not phrasing that’s painful to our friends in the minority communities.
— Rep. Mark Walker (@RepMarkWalker) July 18, 2019
Blitzer asked Walker what he would want to happen if the same chant erupted at another Trump rally. The congressman said he hoped the president “would condemn it immediately.”
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.