Rep. Karen Bass (D., Calif.) on Tuesday responded in the affirmative that President Donald Trump will have "blood on his hands" if anyone commits a "racially inspired attack" because of his tweets aimed at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and the three other female progressive Democrats known as "the squad."
Bass appeared on MSNBC's Deadline: White House, where she discussed Trump's recent tweets targeting the "squad," which consists of Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.).
Host Nicolle Wallace asked Bass whether she believed political discourse was getting out of control.
"Absolutely," Bass responded. She went on to say she was concerned about the lives of her four Democratic colleagues, two of which she said were members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
"These four women go through death threats every single day. They don't talk about it very often. I'm very worried one of them might be injured if not killed and you remember when the guy went in and shot up the synagogue," Bass said. "Remember who he cited. He said that the president said that they were getting funding to encourage Central Americans to come over to the United States."
"I believe that his racist, hateful rhetoric absolutely has consequences. All he needs to do is trigger somebody who is mentally unstable or who is a bigger racist than he is and somebody else is going to get hurt," Bass continued.
Wallace followed up to inquire whether she believes Trump would have "blood on his hands" if violence went beyond the four congresswomen and there was a "racially inspired attack."
"I absolutely believe that. Yes, but remember now before our last election we had four acts of domestic terrorism. You remember that guy that delivered the bombs. Do you remember his van was covered in pro-Trump bumper stickers and posters, so I think he has already had that effect," Bass said. "I have been afraid for my colleagues' safety for a long time now and I think what he did over the weekend just puts them in further danger."
The "squad" held a press conference on Monday evening, where they reiterated their calls for Trump to be impeached following his weekend tweets suggesting the four congresswomen "go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came."
Three of the four congresswomen were born in the United States and the fourth, Rep. Ilhan Omar, became a naturalized citizen after she came to the United States as a refugee from Somalia.
"I have not made impeachment central to my election or my tenure, but since the day that I've gotten elected, I have said to people, it is not if he will be impeached, but when," Omar said. "So it is time for us to stop allowing this president to make a mockery out of our Constitution. It's time for us to impeach this president."