Trump calls congresswomen racist day after his adviser says the term is used to silence speech

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump made a familiar move Monday: Accuse someone else of something he has come under fire for doing.

Charged with racism for his attacks on four minority House Democrats, Trump tweeted that the lawmakers known as the "Squad" are "very racist," as well as "troublemakers who are young, inexperienced, and not very smart."

It's the ninth straight day Trump has attacked the group of Hispanic, African-American, and Muslim women, and this particular salvo comes a day after aides went on television to dispute the idea that this has anything to do with race at all.

"I fundamentally disagree with the view that if you criticize somebody and they happen to be a different color skin, that that makes it racial criticism," White House senior aide Stephen Miller said on Fox News Sunday.

Miller also said Democrats use the term "racist" to "silence and punish and suppress people they disagree with, speech they don't want to hear."

Trump began all of this with a July 14 set of tweets suggesting that four House members, all of whom have criticized him, should "go back" from where they came from: Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

All four are U.S. citizens.

This isn't the first time Trump has thrown an accusation back at others.

The most famous example: In a 2016 debate, Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton described Trump as a "puppet" for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump replied: “No puppet. No puppet. You’re the puppet!”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump on racism and the Squad: 'It's not me, it's you'