by Matthew Rusling
WASHINGTON, July 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump drew controversy once again by attacking on four Democratic ethnic minority congresswomen, known as "the squad," saying that they should leave the United States if they do not like it.
However, of the four Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is known as AOC, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley, only Omar was born overseas, in Somalia, but has since become an American citizen according to U.S. media.
In what experts say is a tactic of constantly putting himself in the center of the news cycle, Trump called out squad members as "anti-American."
The squad grab headlines and national TV coverage almost on a daily basis. But experts said the group is like a media creation with limited political power.
Before Trump chimed in, the fight is mostly within the Democratic party. The freshmen lawmakers blasted longtime party leader and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. When Pelosi hit back, the group suggested she was a racist.
On Wednesday, squad member Tlalib told CBS that Pelosi, the top ranking House Democrat, should be seeking an audience with the squad, rather than the reverse.
"She (Pelosi) can ask for a meeting to sit down with us for clarification," she said.
Christopher Galdieri, an assistant professor at Saint Anselm College, told Xinhua that the squad has "received a disproportionate amount of media attention."
"A lot of that comes from AOC beating an incumbent in the media capitol of the country. But they all won in deep blue districts where a Democratic candidate will beat a Republican candidate 99.9 times out of 100," Galdieri said.
"The four squad members come from places that have voted blue as long as anyone can remember and will for years to come," Galdieri said, adding that Democrats' futures hinge not on the already-in-the-bag districts they represent, but rather "the Democrats' future hinges on holding the gains they made elsewhere in 2018."
Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua that "the squad is a media creation."
"They are getting a lot of media coverage, which is elevating their political profile," West said.
"They are not the face of the party, but Trump wants to use them to argue Democrats are outside the mainstream," West added.
*Opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of UMMnews.
