President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday that four minority representatives—Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Ilhan Omar—"originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe." He urged them to go back to their countries and repair situations there before critiquing the United States.
All four of the Congresswomen are American citizens. Three of the four were born in the United States.
While taking questions at the third annual Made in America summit on the White House Lawn, Trump insisted that his tweets were "not at all" racist.
Donald Trump's tweets were racist.
His words sparked massive outcry, but in attempts to seem neutral in the face of constant claims of partiality from the president and his allies, many mainstream news outlets were hesitant to use the word "racist." It's a pattern that's been occurring for years, despite numerous people calling it out.
Racially charged. Racially tinged. Racism-flecked. Marbled with racism. Racism adjacent.— Emily Nussbaum (@Emily Nussbaum) 1563121955.0
JUST SAY RACIST https://t.co/EIFw3ZeSK9— Judd Legum (@Judd Legum) 1563158928.0
But the president's least favorite news network, CNN, didn't hold back with its headline.
President Trump denies racist "go back" tweets were racist https://t.co/l6yzjSvRfs https://t.co/ikQk1XwMEQ— CNN Politics (@CNN Politics) 1563209986.0
The headline on CNN's website reads:
"Trump denies racist tweets were racist"
It was a refreshing sight for many to see a news outlet call it what it is.
Okay, this is more like it. CNN is not playing with this headline. And, importantly, it's wholly journalistic. It s… https://t.co/xKGCsuVvPs— Barry Malone (@Barry Malone) 1563210893.0
Now that’s how you write a headline. https://t.co/8sW4n6seQS— Brian Klaas (@Brian Klaas) 1563216756.0
One of CNN's best headlines. https://t.co/38v48IaoHb— Terry Matula (@Terry Matula) 1563214936.0
Thank you, @CNN, for the awesome headline -- now THAT is "saying it like it really is" 👏🏼 #TrumpIsARacist… https://t.co/5Xa9KwdCer— 📚 holly bryan (book-keeping) (@📚 holly bryan (book-keeping)) 1563216282.0
@jaketapper It took like four years, but finally someone figured out how to write a headline in Trumpland.— Adam Parkhomenko (@Adam Parkhomenko) 1563210534.0
The headline comes as many Republicans claim the term "racist" is used too flippantly by Democrats, yet few seem willing to question why overt racism appears to be more commonplace in the Trump era.
Many are calling on news outlets to stop being so hesitant to use the word where it applies.
A real problem is that politics in Trump’s era has taken on a moral dimension that news outlets either aren’t equip… https://t.co/lnExRrM9XC— James Poniewozik (@James Poniewozik) 1563150973.0
Any news outlet not describing the president’s tweets as racist — and instead relying on “critics” or euphemisms —… https://t.co/oFul0tDKqg— Alexa Ura (@Alexa Ura) 1563201994.0
Hi major news outlets: the correct language today is “racist.” The president of the United States, Donald Trump, is RACIST. Full stop.— pre-Christmas ghost dog (@pre-Christmas ghost dog) 1563129724.0
More outlets would do well to take a page from CNN's book.