Trump news: Fresh calls for impeachment as House condemns president's racists attacks on Democratic congresswomen

House votes to condemn president's racist tweets

Donald Trump falsely claims Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar had praised al-Qaeda

The US House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to condemn Donald Trump’s tweets telling four Democratic congresswomen of color to “go back” to their countries of origin.

The vote was 240-187 and was solidly opposed by Republicans. It came after Mr Trump and top congressional Republicans denied he is a racist and urged GOP lawmakers to oppose the Democratic measure.

The resolution says the House “strongly condemns” Mr Trump’s “racist comments that have legitimized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of colour.”

The president responded angrily on Twitter after the four Democratic congresswomen he attacked in a series of racist tweets – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib - staged a press conference on Monday night strongly condemning his behaviour and calling for his impeachment.

“The Democrat Congresswomen have been spewing some of the most vile, hateful, and disgusting things ever said by a politician in the House or Senate, & yet they get a free pass and a big embrace from the Democrat Party,” the president wrote on Twitter. “Horrible anti-Israel, anti-USA, pro-terrorist & public shouting of the F... word, among many other terrible things, and the petrified Dems run for the hills.”

With Republicans still desperate to avoid being drawn on the matter, Representative Omar attacked President Trump’s “white nationalist agenda” and said: “It is time for us to stop allowing this president to make a mockery of our constitution. It’s time for us to impeach this president.”

Immediately after the resolution vote, a Texas Democrat announced he would file articles of impeachment against Mr Trump in a move that could force a politically fraught vote by the end of the week.

Under House rules, a single member of the House can force an impeachment vote. Mr Green did so twice, unsuccessfully, when Republicans controlled the House.

For now, a majority of House Democrats appear to oppose impeachment.

And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has resisted launching official proceedings without broad bipartisan support.

Additional reporting by AP. Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load

Key Points

• Trump attacks congresswomen: 'Horrible anti-Israel, anti-USA, pro-terrorist'
• President trails treason investigation into Google
• Ilhan Omar accuses president of 'mocking our constitution'
• President says he is not 'concerned' by white supremacist comparisons
• Twitter insists racist tweets do not break its guidelines

[16 July 2019 09:22 · Joe Sommerlad]

Hello and welcome to The Independent's rolling coverage of the Donald Trump administration.

[16 July 2019 09:26 · Joe Sommerlad]

Donald Trump has responded angrily on Twitter after the four Democratic congresswomen he attacked in a series of racist tweets – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib - staged a press conference on Monday night strongly condemning his behaviour and calling for his impeachment.

“We will never be a Socialist or Communist Country. IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY HERE, YOU CAN LEAVE!” the president ranted, repeating his accusation that the quartet, nicknamed "The Squad", are “anti-Israel, pro Al-Qaeda” and that "Radical Left Democrats" back open borders, "which means drugs, crime, human trafficking, and much more".

On Sunday, President Trump tweeted the following, beginning the outcry.

Here's Jane Dalton and Gemma Fox with a reminder of the context.

[16 July 2019 09:40 · Joe Sommerlad]

Speaking to the press last night, AOC, Omar, Pressley and Tlaib did not hold back in their remarks, urging America "not to take the bait" of the president's hate speech.

Omar was on especially fiery form, attacking President Trump’s “white nationalist agenda” and saying: “It is time for us to stop allowing this president to make a mockery of our constitution. It’s time for us to impeach this president.”

Omar wasn't done there, later appearing on MSNBC to say:

Here's Andrew Buncombe's report on an extraordinary moment in Washington.

[16 July 2019 10:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Before all that, President Trump had taken questions from the press at the White House, telling reporters he does not mind his views reflecting those of neo-Nazis: “It doesn’t concern me because many people agree with me.”

He also used his platform ahead of a "Made in America Product Showcase" to further his attacks on Representative Omar, willfully misrepresenting past comments made by the Minnesota congresswoman - a Muslim born in Somalia - in what looked unavoidably like a dog whistle to far-right Islamophobes.

As condemnation rained down on him, Trump refused to back down, keeping this up on Twitter throughout the day, even demanding The Squad apologise to him!

Here's our report on the president's response to the latest escalating crisis of his own making.

[16 July 2019 10:15 · Joe Sommerlad]

The Republican response to all of this has, for the most part, to be as vague and evasive as possible.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer spoke for many when he called on the GOP to speak out against the president and asked: "Where are you?"

When they were prepared to answer a direct question about the racist tweets, they did so hurriedly and were as non-committal as they could get away with.

Only South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham - a man who once dismissed Trump as a "kook" unfit for the Oval Office - really leapt to the president's defence on Fox and Friends and even he said he should rein in the personal attacks.

Representative Will Hurd deserves a mention as a rare, noble exception.

Here's Ahmed Baba for Indy Voices on a what could be a pivotal moment for GOP credibility.

[16 July 2019 10:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

Also offering a weak response was Twitter, the social media giant insisting the tweets did not break its hate speech guidelines.

Trump has been at odds with the platform in recent weeks - despite making liberal use of it - refusing to invite company representatives to his White House Social Media Summit last Thursday and persistently complaining that the site is conspiring to drop his follower numbers as part of a broader campaign to silence conservative political voices.

[16 July 2019 10:45 · Joe Sommerlad]

In Britain, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has joined prime minister Theresa May and Tory leadership candidates Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt in condemning the racist tweets.

Johnson and Hunt called the comments "completely unacceptable" in their latest TV debate but backed away from explicitly calling them racist. Unlike Jezza.

Here's Andrew Woodcock's report.

[16 July 2019 11:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Another man who did not hold back was Seth Meyers on Late Night, who labelled the president a "racist gargoyle who sits around tweeting from the back nine of his chintzy golf course".

Adam White has more.

[16 July 2019 11:15 · Joe Sommerlad]

One of the more astonishing reactions came, unsurprisingly, from Fox News, where pundit  Dana Perino, a former White House secretary under George W Bush, complained about Ilhan Omar using the phrase "grab 'em by the p****" on live TV, overlooking the fact that she was quoting the president directly.

Here's Emma Snaith's report.

[16 July 2019 11:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

In other news, White House counsel Kellyanne Conway failed to appear before the House Judiciary Committee yesterday after being subpoenaed over an allegation she violated a federal ethics law known as the Hatch Act.

Here's the moment chairman Elijah Cummings addressed her empty chair.

The Conway no-show apparently came under direct orders from President Trump.

Chairman Cummings has since given her until 25 July to respond or be held in contempt.

Here's Chris Baynes's report.