The four US congresswomen attacked by US President Donald Trump in a series of racially charged tweets have dismissed his remarks as a distraction.
Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib urged the US people “not to take the bait” at a Monday press conference.
Mr Trump suggested the four women – all US citizens – “can leave”.
He has defended his comments and denied allegations of racism.
Addressing reporters, the four women – known as The Squad – all said the focus should be on policy and not the president’s words.
“This is simply a disruption and a distraction from the callous chaos and corrupt culture of this administration, all the way down,” Ms Pressley said.
Both Ms Omar and Ms Tlaib also called for Mr Trump to be impeached.
Their response comes after Mr Trump launched a Twitter tirade on Sunday, telling the four women – three of whom were born in the US and one, Ms Omar, who was born in Somalia – to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came”.
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On Friday, all four women had testified to a House committee about conditions in a migrant detention centre they had visited. Mr Trump insisted conditions at the centre had had “great reviews”.
He redoubled these attacks on Monday. “If you are not happy, if you are complaining all the time, you can leave,” he told a heated news conference outside the White House.
The remarks have been widely condemned as racist and xenophobic.
What did the congresswomen say?
All four women insisted that health care, gun violence, and in particular detentions of migrants on the US border with Mexico should be in focus.
“The eyes of history are watching us,” said Ms Omar said, decrying the “mass deportation raids” and “human rights abuses at the border”.
Ms Omar and Ms Tlaib meanwhile called for Mr Trump to be impeached – something Democratic party leaders have so far refused to pursue.
They later directly addressed the president’s comments, with Ms Ocasio-Cortez saying “We don’t leave the things that we love”.
“When this president ran and until today he talked about everything that was wrong with this country and how he was going to make it great,” Ms Omar said, arguing that to call them “un-American” was “complete hypocrisy”.
What’s been the response?
Democrats have roundly condemned the president, and have been joined by several Republicans.
After the press conference US Senator and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney called Mr Trump’s remarks “destructive, demeaning, and disunifying”.
“People can disagree over politics and policy, but telling American citizens to go back to where they came from is over the line,” he tweeted.
The president meanwhile continued his attacks on Twitter as the congresswomen spoke.
“If you are not happy here, you can leave! It is your choice, and your choice alone. This is about love for America,” he wrote.