Four progressive Democratic congresswomen held a press conference Monday calling for the impeachment of President Donald Trump in the wake of comments he directed at them on Twitter.
Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.), Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), and Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) denounced Trump's tweets and called for the House to begin proceedings against him. Omar cited "mass deportations" and "human rights abuses at the border," echoing many Democrats who have denounced the Trump administration's border security policies.
"This president, who has been credibly accused of committing multiple crimes, including colluding with a foreign government to interfere with our election," Omar said, drawing conclusions that do not square with former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, which did not find collusion with Russia. "This is a president who has overseen the most corrupt administration in our history and pursued an agenda to allow millions of Americans to die from a lack of health care while he transfers millions of dollars in tax cuts to corporations."
It's unclear what she means, since even studies critical of Trump's healthcare policies have not said anything close to "millions" could have died since Trump has become president.
"This is a president who has said 'grab' women by the pussy. This is a president who has called black athletes 'sons of b—s.' This is a president who has called black people who come from black and brown countries sh—holes. This is a president who has equated neo-Nazis with those who protest against them in Charlottesville," Omar said.
Omar compared Trump's agenda to that of "white nationalists," saying their views have "reached the White House garden." Without addressing her own forays into anti-Semitism, Omar said all of Trump's actions are intended to divide the country but Democrats must embrace solidarity.
"So we can either continue to enable this president and report on the bile of garbage that comes out of his mouth, or we can hold him accountable to his crimes. We can continue to turn a blind eye of the multiple crimes he's accused of. We can stand while he violates people's basic human rights, and the responsibility—the responsibility that his administration has for the deaths of children on our border. Or we can take action. 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. 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," Omar continued.
Ocasio-Cortez said Trump's actions and comments do not surprise her, but added "we're focused on making it better because we don't leave the things that we love."
Tlaib, who has urged Democrats to "impeach the motherf—er," reiterated her call for impeachment.
"Many members of Congress have called for his impeachment because of his utter disregard and disrespect of the United States Constitution, and despite this and other many attempts to distract us, I remain focused, we remain focused on holding him accountable to the laws of this land and accountable to the American people. I urge House leadership, many of my colleagues, to take action to impeach this lawless president today," Tlaib said.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), who has been feuding with these four Democrats, has struggled to navigate the issue of impeachment in her caucus. In early June, Pelosi clashed with House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.), rejecting his request to let his committee launch an impeachment inquiry.