VOA慢速英语--Trump Defends Attacks on Minority Lawmakers

 

American President Donald Trump¹ on Monday defended his attacks on four female Democratic members of Congress, saying he is not worried about criticism because “many people agree with me.”

Trump added, “If you hate our country... you can leave.”

He claimed the four lawmakers had used bad language and said “terrible things about the U.S., Israel and the presidency².”

Trump’s comments came a day after he wrote a series of messages on Twitter telling the four women to go back and help fix the “broken and crime infested” countries they came from.

The four congresswomen are all considered “progressive” Democrats⁴. They are Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

Omar was born in Somalia and became a naturalized U.S. citizen before her election to Congress. The other three, all minorities, were born in the United States.

Later on Monday, the four lawmakers appeared together in a televised news conference. Representative Ayanna Pressley urged Americans to “not take the bait” and called the president’s comments a “distraction⁵” from other issues.

Republican reactions

Republicans have mostly stayed quiet about Trump’s comments. Only a few Republican lawmakers have spoken out against the president.

Susan Collins is a Republican Senator from Maine who is running for re-election next year. She said Trump’s Twitter messages were “way over the line and he should take that down.” Another Republican, John Kasich, called the president’s tweets “deplorable.” He is a former governor of Ohio and a one-time member of Congress.

Tim Scott of South Carolina is the only black Republican in the U.S. Senate. On Monday, he said that Trump had “interjected with unacceptable personal attacks and racially offensive language” in his tweets about the lawmakers.

A strong Republican defender⁶ of Trump is Senator Lindsey Graham, also of South Carolina. On Monday, he advised the president to “aim higher” during an appearance on Fox News.

But Graham also strongly criticized the four lawmakers in question. He called the them “a bunch of communists,” “anti-Semitic,” and “anti-American.” He said, "They hate Israel, they hate our own country, they're calling the guards along our border, the border control agents, concentration camp guards, they accuse people who support Israel of doing it for the Benjamins [or money]…”

Several months ago, Omar had suggested that members of Congress support Israel in exchange for money, while Tlaib used bad language to predict that Trump would be removed from office.

Democrats’ criticism

Democrats universally condemned⁷ Trump’s comments as racist⁸ and divisive.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the comments “disgusting.” She said Trump “went beyond his own low standards using disgraceful language about members of Congress.”

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez answered Trump in a tweet, saying, “Mr. President, the country I “come from,” & the country we all swear to, is the United States.” She added, “But given how you’ve destroyed our border with inhumane camps, all at a benefit to you & the corps⁹ who profit off them, you are absolutely right about the corruption¹⁰ laid at your feet.”

Representative Ilhan Omar added, “You are stoking white nationalism (because) you are angry that people like us are serving in Congress and fighting against your hate-filled agenda.”

Representative Ayanna Pressley said, “THIS is what racism¹¹ looks like. WE are what democracy looks like. And we’re not going anywhere.” And, Representative Rashida Tlaib repeated her call for Trump’s impeachment¹³. She wrote, “He is the crisis. His dangerous ideology¹⁴ is the crisis. He needs to be impeached¹⁵.”

Pelosi also said on Monday the House would vote on a resolution condemning¹⁶ the comment. She called on lawmakers from both parties to support the resolution.

She said the resolution would include former Republican President Ronald Reagan’s last speech as president in which he thanked immigrants. In the speech, Reagan said if the U.S. “ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.”

Two close American allies have also condemned Trump’s tweets about the four lawmakers.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Trump’s comments are “not how we do things in Canada.” A spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May said the language Trump used was “completely unacceptable.”

Accusation¹⁷ of racist comments

When asked Monday whether his recent comments were racist, Trump told White House reporters, “Not at all.”

It is not the first time Trump has been accused of expressing racist ideas.

When he first announced his candidacy for president in June 2015, Trump said Mexico was sending criminals and rapists into the country. During the presidency of Barack Obama, Trump repeatedly claimed that Obama – the country’s first black president – was not born in the United States.

In his first year as president, Trump said there were good people on “both sides” of the 2017 clashes between white supremacists and anti-racist demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia.

And during a White House meeting on immigration in early 2018, Trump reportedly used insulting language to describe Haiti as well as several African nations.

I'm Ashley Thompson.

And I'm Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

infest³ - v. to be in or over a place in large numbers

anti-Semitic - adj. feeling or showing hatred¹⁸ of Jewish people

take the bait - idiomatic¹⁹ expression. to be tricked into doing something

distraction - n. something that amuses or entertains you so that you do not think about problems, work, etc...

concentration camp - n. a prison where large numbers of non-soldiers are kept and are usually forced to live in very bad conditions

disgusting - adj. so bad that you feel annoyed and angry

standard - n. a level of quality, achievement, etc., that is considered acceptable

disgraceful - adj. becoming unworthy of respect or approval

deplorable - adj. very bad in a way that causes shock, fear, or disgust

benefit - n. a helpful result or effect

impeach¹² - v. to charge (a public official) with a crime done while in office

stoke - v. to increase the amount or strength of something

agenda - n. a goal or plan that guides someone's behavior

ideology - n. the set of ideas and beliefs of a group or a political party

supremacist - n. a person who believes that one group of people is better than all other groups and should have control over them

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

3 infest   

v.大批出没于；侵扰；寄生于

参考例句：

• Several animals in sea water can infest wood.海水中有好多动物能侵害木材。
• A lame cat is better than a swift horse when rats infest the palace.宫殿有鼠患，瘸猫比快马强。

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

6 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

7 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

8 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

9 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

10 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

11 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

12 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

13 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

14 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

15 impeached   

v.控告（某人）犯罪( impeach的过去式和过去分词 )；弹劾；对（某事物）怀疑；提出异议

参考例句：

• Elected officials can be impeached. 经过选举产生的官员可以被弹劾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The judge was impeached for taking a bribe. 这个法官被检举接受贿赂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

17 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

18 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

19 idiomatic   

adj.成语的，符合语言习惯的

参考例句：

• In our reading we should always be alert for idiomatic expressions.我们在阅读过程中应经常注意惯用法。
• In his lecture,he bore down on the importance of idiomatic usage in a language.他在演讲中着重强调了语言中习惯用法的重要性。