Texas Congresswoman Veronica Escobar has “declined” an invitation to join President Trump during his upcoming trip to El Paso — saying she “refuses to be an accessory to his visit” — in the wake of the Walmart shooting.
“The White House invited me to join @realDonaldTrump during his visit to El Paso. My response was clear,” tweeted Escobar on Tuesday night. “I declined the invitation because I refuse to be an accessory to his visit. I refuse to join without a dialogue about the pain his racist and hateful words & actions have caused our community and country.”
The Democratic lawmaker, who represents El Paso, said she “requested a phone call” with Trump earlier in the day in order to share what she’s been hearing “from many constituents, including some who are victims of Saturday’s attack” — but the president refused to speak to her.
“My message would’ve been that he needs to understand that his words are powerful and have consequences. Using racist language to describe Mexicans, immigrants and other minorities dehumanize us. Those words inflame others,” Escobar said, noting how “the domestic terrorist who came to El Paso to kill innocent people had his sights set on Hispanics and immigrants.”
“He took 22 lives, injured more than two dozen,” she continued. “I have publicly said he has a responsibility to acknowledge the power of his words, apologize for them, and take them back because they are still hanging over us. I asked for a call so I could say this to him over the phone and ask for a dialogue that could lead to healing…I was told that @realDonaldTrump is ‘too busy’ to have that conversation.”
President Trump was planning to visit El Paso on Wednesday to visit with those affected by this past weekend’s shooting. A 21-year-old white supremacist is behind bars for the massacre, facing possible domestic terrorism charges.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Escobar’s statements.
Escobar had said Monday that Trump wasn’t welcome in her community — telling MSNBC, “Words have consequences.”
“The President has made my community and my people the enemy,” Escobar seethed. “He has told the country that we are people to be feared, people to be hated. He has done that at his rallies. He has done that through his Twitter.”
Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, an El Paso native, has also urged Trump to stay away.
“The things that he has said both as a candidate and then as the President of the United States, this cannot be open for debate,” he told CNN on Sunday.
Asked if he thought Trump was a white nationalist, O’Rourke said: “Yes. I do.”
“These are white men motivated by the kind of fear that this President traffics in,” he claimed of the recent mass shooters. “(Trump) does not even pretend to respect our differences or to understand that we are all created equal.”
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