{"slug":"squad-go-back-tweets-send-her-back-2019","title":"'Go Back' Tweets and the 'Send Her Back' Chant: The House Condemns the President's Racist Attack on Four Congresswomen","date":"2019-07-14","lastUpdated":"2026-10-04","description":"On July 14, 2019, President Trump tweeted that four Democratic congresswomen of colour, who 'originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe,' should 'go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.' All four are US citizens and three were born in the United States. On July 16 the House voted 240 to 187 for a resolution that 'strongly condemns President Donald Trump's racist comments.' The next evening, at a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, the crowd chanted 'Send her back!' at Rep. Ilhan Omar while Trump paused. He later said he disagreed with the chant and falsely claimed he had tried to stop it, then praised the crowd as 'incredible patriots.'","summary":"Trump told four congresswomen of colour, all American citizens, to 'go back' to the countries they 'originally came from'. The House formally condemned the tweets as racist. Two days later a rally crowd chanted 'Send her back!' about Rep. Ilhan Omar while the President let it run.","category":"civil-rights","severity":"significant","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-to-vote-on-resolution-condemning-racist-trump-tweets-today-2019-07-16/","title":"House passes resolution formally denouncing Trump tweets as racist","publisher":"CBS News"},{"url":"https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48982172","title":"Trump to congresswomen of colour: Leave the US","publisher":"BBC News"},{"url":"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/after-house-rejects-stupid-impeachment-trump-fuels-rally-crowd-chant-n1031066","title":"After House rejects 'stupid' impeachment, Trump fuels rally crowd chant of 'Send her back!' at Omar","publisher":"NBC News"},{"url":"https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/send-her-back-chant-at-trump-rally-inspires-hashtag-condemnations-20190719-p528ne.html","title":"Donald Trump disavows 'send her back' chant after it sparks backlash","publisher":"The Sydney Morning Herald"},{"url":"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/7/19/trump-renews-attacks-on-omar-praises-send-her-back-crowd","title":"Trump renews attacks on Omar, praises 'send her back' crowd","publisher":"Al Jazeera"},{"url":"https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-2&chapter=4&clang=_en","title":"International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: status, declarations and reservations","publisher":"United Nations Treaty Collection"},{"url":"https://hrlibrary.umn.edu/instree/d1cerd.htm","title":"International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (text)","publisher":"University of Minnesota Human Rights Library"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["racism","Ilhan Omar","the Squad","send her back","House resolution","xenophobia","first term"],"relatedEntries":["trump-first-term-shithole-countries-comments","trump-ms13-dehumanizing-rhetoric-racial"],"timeline":[{"date":"2019-07-14","title":"'Go back' tweets","summary":"Trump tweets that four progressive congresswomen of colour should 'go back' to the 'totally broken and crime infested places from which they came'."},{"date":"2019-07-16","title":"House condemns the tweets as racist","summary":"The House adopts a resolution condemning 'President Donald Trump's racist comments' by 240 to 187. Republicans Will Hurd, Brian Fitzpatrick, Fred Upton and Susan Brooks vote in favour (CBS News)."},{"date":"2019-07-17","title":"'Send her back!' in Greenville","summary":"At a re-election rally in Greenville, North Carolina, Trump resumes his attack on Omar and the crowd chants 'Send her back!' while he pauses (NBC News; Sydney Morning Herald)."},{"date":"2019-07-18","title":"Trump disavows the chant, falsely claiming he tried to stop it","summary":"Trump tells reporters he disagreed with the chant and that he had started speaking again 'very quickly'; footage showed him pausing while it continued (Sydney Morning Herald; Al Jazeera)."},{"date":"2019-07-19","title":"Trump praises the crowd","summary":"Trump calls the people at the rally 'incredible people' and 'incredible patriots'. Omar says the President bears responsibility for 'a volatile environment' that puts people in danger (Al Jazeera)."}],"location":{"name":"Washington, D.C., and Greenville, North Carolina","lat":35.6127,"lng":-77.3664},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"documented","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination","article":"Article 2(1)(a) and Article 4(c)","provision":"States parties undertake to engage in no act of racial discrimination and not to permit public authorities to promote or incite racial discrimination (the United States is a party, with a reservation tying Article 4 to constitutional free-speech protections)"},{"statute":"International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights","article":"Articles 25 and 26","provision":"Right to take part in public affairs; equal protection without discrimination"}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar, sitting members of Congress targeted by the President on the basis of their perceived foreign origin","perpetrators":"President Donald Trump","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"President of the United States; author of the tweets and the rally speech","institution":"White House"}],"keyPoints":["July 14, 2019: Trump tweeted that 'Progressive' Democrat Congresswomen 'who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe' should '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' (BBC).","The targets were Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar. Three were born in the United States; Omar came to the US as a refugee aged 12 (BBC; Al Jazeera).","July 16, 2019: the House voted 240–187, with four Republicans in favour, for a resolution that 'strongly condemns President Donald Trump's racist comments that have legitimized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color' (CBS News).","July 17, 2019: at a Greenville, North Carolina rally, the crowd chanted 'Send her back!' at Omar. As the chant intensified, Trump paused and 'did nothing apparent to discourage the crowd' (The Sydney Morning Herald; NBC News).","On July 18 Trump said 'I was not happy with it — I disagreed with it' and falsely claimed he had tried to stop it. A day later he called the rally crowd 'incredible people' and 'incredible patriots' (Al Jazeera).","Omar had earlier reported an increase in death threats after Trump tweeted an edited video about her earlier in 2019 (Al Jazeera)."],"legalBasis":"ICERD Articles 2(1)(a) and 4(c) (no public authority may promote racial discrimination; subject to US reservation); the House resolution of July 16, 2019 formally condemning the comments","postureNote":"Documented statements, formally condemned by the House of Representatives on July 16, 2019. No legal proceeding followed.","relatedIncidents":["trump-first-term-shithole-countries-comments","trump-ms13-dehumanizing-rhetoric-racial"]}}