Trump says he was “not happy” about “send her back” rally chant

July 18, 2019

Crowd chants “send her back” during Trump rally

President Trump on Thursday insisted he was “not happy” with his supporters’ chant to “send her home,” referring to Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar.

Mr. Trump, who did nothing to quiet the chant at his rally in Greenville, North Carolina, Wednesday night, claimed Thursday he thought he had. Mr. Trump made the remarks in the Oval Office during a meeting with members of Team USA for the 2019 Special Olympics World Games.

Asked why he didn’t stop the chant, Mr. Trump said, “I think I did — I started speaking very quickly.”

The president added, “I was not happy with it — I disagreed with it.”

Video of the rally, however, does not show the president making any visible or audible attempts to interject and halt his supporters.

Asked if he would try to stop such chants the next time, he said he would certainly try.

Mr. Trump began the controversy over the weekend with a racist tweet that congresswomen should “go back” to their countries. Mr. Trump has since defended that tweet, claiming it was not racist.

This is a developing story and will be updated.