United States President Donald Trump was accused of racism on Sunday after he asked four minority liberal Congresswomen to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came”. Trump said House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi would arrange for their free travel.

“So interesting to see ‘progressive’ Democrat congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful nation on earth, how our government is to be run,” Trump said in a tweet.

The remarks came a week after Pelosi clashed with four United States congresswomen, three of whom – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley – were born in America, while the fourth, Ilhan Omar, had moved to the country in her childhood, BBC reported. All four women were elected to Congress in 2018. Although Trump did not mention any names, most reports claimed that he was referring to these four women.

Trump’s comments seemed to have united the Democrats as some of them took to Twitter to denounce his statements. Pelosi criticised Trump’s statements, saying that his plan to “Make America Great Again has always been about making America white again”.

“I reject @realDonaldTrump’s [Donald Trump] xenophobic comments meant to divide our nation,” she wrote in a tweet. “Rather than attack Members of Congress, he should work with us for humane immigration policy that reflects American values. Stop the raids - #FamiliesBelongTogether!”

“On top of not accepting an America that elected us, you cannot accept that we don’t fear you either,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

While Omar accused Trump of “stoking white nationalism”, Tlaib called for the president’s impeachment, saying that “his dangerous ideology” was the crisis. “Want a response to a lawless & complete failure of a President?” she tweeted. “He is the crisis.”

Pressley shared a screenshot of Trump’s tweet, saying “THIS is what racism looks like. WE are what democracy looks like.”

Among the Democrats running for the 2020 presidential race, Bernie Sanders accused Trump of racism. “When I call the president a racist, this is what I am talking about,” he said, quote tweeting Trump’s remarks. “We must stand together for justice and dignity towards all.”

Trump, however, condemned the Democrats who presented a united front, saying that it was sad to see them “sticking up for people who speak so badly of our country”.