Give Us This Day Our Daily Outrage [OPINION]
For months, most Americans I know have expressed alarm and dismay over the behavior of four freshmen Democrat congresswomen. This weekend, President Trump did the same and the result was predictable: he is–wait for it–a racist.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts have put on quite a sideshow since being elected last fall. Their antics have drawn the attention of the media and have divided the Democrat Party while pushing the party to the extreme left. But that's their problem to worry about.
AOC and her band of merry little divisive radicals have misrepresented reality while attempting to pull this nation closer and closer to socialism. Their often vulgar rants and name-calling make it increasingly more difficult to get the people's business done in Washington. The media loves their shenanigans and has made them stars.
Last week "the squad," as they've become known, attacked their own leader. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) was branded–wait for it–a racist. Trump vigorously rushed to Pelosi's defense telling reporters, "Nancy Pelosi is not a racist. For them to call her that is a disgrace." Too bad Pelosi didn't have the class to reciprocate and this weekend instead called Trump–wait for it–a racist.
Trump's frustration with "the squad" is essentially the same as most of ours. He is fed up with misrepresentations of what is happening along the border. For months, the left said there was no crisis at the border; now it's "concentration camps" and "torture." These intentional misrepresentations make it much more difficult to correct the border crisis and puts American lives at risk. The fab four sees it as an opportunity for open borders and an expansion of the welfare state.
Trump suggested that AOC, Tlaib, Omar, and Pressley do something to help: "Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came? Then come back and show us how it is done." Of course, the spin has it that Trump told the four to go back where they came from and not come back. Only Omar was born outside of the country, but certainly, AOC's New York, Tllaib's Detroit and Pressley's Boston could use a little help too, no?
Trump is right to be angry and so should you that these four radicals are making the border crisis more difficult to resolve and that Democrats, in general, are embracing the cause of illegal aliens for merely political reasons.
Trump's mistake was to attack "the squad" because it only serves to galvanize an otherwise sharply divided Democrat Party. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) was correct when he said last week that Trump should just remain quiet and let the Democrats self-destruct on the border issue.
Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.