Trump accuses four minority congresswomen of being 'very Racist' and 'not very smart'

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump escalated his attacks Monday on a group of four minority congresswomen known as "the Squad," calling them "very Racist" and "not very smart."

Trump's assessment came in a tweet as his motorcade traveled from the White House to the Supreme Court to pay his respects to the late Justice John Paul Stevens, who died last week at age 99 and was lying in repose.

It was the latest in a string of attacks directed at the four freshman lawmakers since a week ago Sunday, when Trump, in a racist tweet, said they should "go back" to the "totally broken and crime infested places from which they came." Only one of the four, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was born outside the United States, and she became a U.S. citizen in 2000.

Trump has often tried to turn the tables on his political opponents, accusing them of the very shortcomings for which they criticize him.

"The 'Squad' is a very Racist group of troublemakers who are young, inexperienced, and not very smart," Trump wrote. "They are pulling the once great Democrat Party far left, and were against humanitarian aid at the Border . . . And are now against ICE and Homeland Security. So bad for our Country!"

Over the past week, Trump has repeatedly defended his words directed at the four women - Reps. Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan - despite widespread criticism that his remarks were racist and divisive.

During a heated exchange on "Fox News Sunday," Stephen Miller, a White House senior adviser, defended Trump and said the term "racist" has become a label used to silence and punish people.

"I think the term 'racist' has become a label that is too often deployed by the left, Democrats in this country simply to try to silence and punish and suppress people they disagree with, speech that they don't want to hear," Miller said.