MONITOR
What Trump Means When He Calls Women of Color ‘Radical’
Recent attacks on Representatives Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Pressley, and Tlaib point to a more sinister right-wing agenda
President Trump set off a viral firestorm when he called for members of “the Squad” (first-year Democratic congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan — all of whom are U.S. citizens, three of whom are U.S. born) to “go back” to the countries they came from. Representative Omar put it best: “He’s launching a blatantly racist attack on four duly elected members of the United States House of Representatives, all of whom are women of color.” Even a few members of the GOP condemned Trump’s statement as racist. Republican Michael Turner of Ohio tweeted that Trump should apologize. And four House Republicans — Representatives Will Hurd of Texas, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Fred Upton of Michigan, and Susan Brooks of Indiana — voted in favor of a resolution denouncing Trump’s racist remarks.
“Radical,” like its linguistic kinfolk “angry” and “aggressive,” has recently become another euphemism for a slur specific to women of…
