Trump escalates attacks on Democratic congresswomen of color

President Trump continued his Twitter attacks on "Radical Left Congresswomen" on Monday, escalating his rhetoric one day after a racist string of tweets said that legislators should "go back" and fix their own countries before shaping American government.

"When will the Radical Left Congresswomen apologize to our Country, the people of Israel and even to the Office of the President, for the foul language they have used, and the terrible things they have said. So many people are angry at them & their horrible & disgusting actions!"

Trump attempted to turn the tables in a pair of Sunday evening tweets, arguing that "Whenever confronted, they call their adversaries, including Nancy Pelosi, 'RACIST.'"

• "Their disgusting language and the many terrible things they say about the United States must not be allowed to go unchallenged."
• He followed in much the same vein with another Monday tweet: "If Democrats want to unite around the foul language & racist hatred spewed from the mouths and actions of these very unpopular & unrepresentative Congresswomen, it will be interesting to see how it plays out."

The big picture: Trump didn't specifically name anyone in this group of congresswomen, but four progressive Democratic congresswomen of color popularly known as "The Squad" — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley — have made headlines for clashing with Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

• Of those four, only Omar is an immigrant to the United States.
• Trump's repeated claims of "foul language" seem to refer to a statement by Tlaib when she said Congress would "impeach the motherf---er" during an event in January soon after being sworn in.

The state of play: As Axios' Mike Allen reported, even the GOP is having a hard time defending the president on this line of attack. "Republicans with a conscience are cringing," a Trump ally told him.

Go deeper: A tough time to be a Trump supporter