Ivanka Trump and senior
Republicans on Friday appeared to be trying to distance themselves from the chants of “send her back” at Donald Trump's North Carolina rally, as the
Republican party struggled to draw a line under a controversial week.
Mr Trump on Friday afternoon defended the crowd in North Carolina, who launched into the chants. “Those are incredible people, incredible patriots,” he said. Asked whether he was unhappy with the tweets and the row, he replied: “You know what I’m unhappy with? I’m unhappy that a Congresswoman can say anti-Semitic things. I’m unhappy that another Congresswoman can hate our country.” The chants against Somali-born congresswoman Ilhan Omar, which sprung up at the Wednesday night event, sparked outrage around the world.
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, joined
Theresa May and
Justin Trudeau, Canada’s leader, in condemning the rhetoric. “Without question, I reject [Trump’s comments] and stand in solidarity with the congresswomen he targeted,” said Mrs Merkel. Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, also made a thinly veiled reference to the chant while giving a speech on extremism. “I know what it’s like to be told to go back to where I came from, and I don’t think they mean Rochdale,” he said.
Ilhan Omar and her colleagues in "The Squad" Mr Trump noted on
Twitter on Friday that the US media was “crazed” with the issue, and yet, he claimed, was “totally calm & accepting of the most vile and disgusting statements made by the three Radical Left Congresswomen”.
After a week of silence from Ms Trump, The
New York Times reported on Friday that she had been uncomfortable with the chants, and that she had urged her father on Thursday morning to reject them. Senior Republicans were also reported to have told
Mike Pence, the vice president, that they wanted the US president to publicly condemn the 13 seconds of yelling. On Thursday afternoon he did eventually say he did not approve of the chanting. Republicans have been notably quiet about the row, which was sparked when Mr Trump tweeted a week ago that Ms Omar and three progressive
Democratic colleagues, known as The Squad, should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came”. Several, including Kevin McCarthy, leader of the Republicans in the House, have condemned the chants. But few have actually spoken out against the tweets that caused the week of controversy.
Kellyanne Conway, senior advisor to the president, raised eyebrows when, asked about the tweets and chants, she retorted to the reporter: “What’s your ethnicity?” And America has spent the past week debating whether Mr Trump’s comments were racist. In
Virginia, a sign appeared outside the Friendship Baptist Church in Appomattox on Friday, saying: “America: love it or leave it.” Pastor E. W. Lucas, in charge of the church, said he put the sign up "to make some remarks regarding the situation in Washington.” He continued: “Preachers, by and large, today, are afraid they’re gonna hurt somebody’s feelings. When I get in the pulpit, I’m afraid I won't hurt somebody’s feelings.”