Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt have both criticised Donald Trump after he told four ethnic minority US congresswomen to ‘go back to where they came from’ despite three of them being born in the US.
However, both Tory leadership contenders refused to be drawn on whether they believed the remarks made by the US President to be ‘racist’.
The two men were both asked at the final Tory leadership showdown of the race for Number 10 this evening if they agreed with Theresa May who had earlier called the comments ‘totally unacceptable’.
Mr Hunt replied: ‘Yes, I do. I have three half Chinese children and if anyone… ever said to them go back to China I would be utterly appalled.
‘I would say something else. It is totally un-British to do that.’
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson initially struck a more diplomatic tone as he described the UK’s relationship with the US as ‘incredibly important’.
But he then went further as he said: ‘You simply cannot use that kind of language about sending people back to where they came from.
‘That went out decades and decades ago… I agree with the Prime Minister. I think it was totally unacceptable.’
Asked directly if he believed the remarks by Mr Trump to be ‘racist’, Mr Johnson replied: ‘You can take from what I said what I think about President Trump’s words.’
Mr Hunt echoed a similar sentiment as he said using that word to describe the remarks would not ‘help the situation’ but added they were ‘totally offensive’.
The exchanges between the men came after Mrs May hit out at the US President’s tweets.
The outgoing Prime Minister today joined the growing chorus of criticism engulfing Mr Trump after he told four ethnic minority US congresswomen to ‘go back to where they came from’ despite three of them being born in the US.
Mr Trump has faced widespread condemnation over the comments which were widely perceived to be about outspoken critic Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and three other female politicians, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib.
Only Ms Omar, from Somalia, is foreign-born, and she has lived in the US since arriving as a 10-year-old refugee in 1992.
Mrs May, who leaves office in just over a week, made her feelings about the remarks by the leader of the UK’s closest ally clear this morning.
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister’s view is that the language used to refer to these woman was totally unacceptable.’
Her intervention put pressure on Mr Hunt and Mr Johnson to also condemn the remarks which Mr Trump has since doubled down on.
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson backed Mrs May as she said: ‘She’s right. And both men vying to be her successor should say so.’
And Liberal Democrats leadership contender Jo Swinson tweeted: ‘The President of the United States is a racist. Every political leader should call this out. Will you, Boris Johnson?’
Mr Hunt, who is in Brussels today, has yet to comment on Mr Trump’s remarks about the four female congresswomen
Asked about Mrs May’s (pictured today in Downing Street) opinion of Mr Trump’s comments today, her official spokesman said: ‘The prime minister’s view is that the language used to refer to these woman was totally unacceptable.’
Mrs May’s spokesman refused to be drawn further on whether the PM thought the tweets were racist and said he was not aware of any plans for her to speak to the US President.
She has appeared alongside Mr Trump several times during her tenure, most notably last month during his official state visit to London, as well as at the White House after he took office.
Mrs May has not always agreed with him, with major differences on issues including Iran’s nuclear programme and the 2016 Paris climate change agreement, which the US pulled out of.
She joined several UK politicians to attack Mr Trump over his outburst, which came as the two nations are embroiled in a diplomatic spat over leaked memos which led Britain’s man in Washington, ambassador Sir Kim Darroch, to resign.
The Metropolitan Police are investigating the leak of diplomatic cables from Sir Kim in which he branded the US President’s administration ‘inept’.
The force has been accused of being ‘heavy handed’ in its approach to warning against the reporting of further leaks.
Other UK politicians joined in the chorus of disapproval at the president’s tweets.
Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: ‘The President of the United States telling elected politicians – or any other Americans for that matter – to ”go back” to other countries is not OK, and diplomatic politeness should not stop us saying so, loudly and clearly.’
Ms Ocasio-Cortez hit back at president Trump, tweeting: ‘Mr. President, the country I ”come from,” & the country we all swear to, is the United States.
‘But given how you’ve destroyed our border with inhumane camps, all at a benefit to you & the corps who profit off them, you are absolutely right about the corruption laid at your feet,’ she tweeted.
‘You are angry because you don’t believe in an America where I represent New York (district) 14, where the good people of Minnesota elected @IlhanMN, where @RashidaTlaib fights for Michigan families, where @AyannaPressley champions little girls in Boston.’
Congresswoman Omar added: ‘Mr. President, As Members of Congress, the only country we swear an oath to is the United States.
Mrs May has appeared alongside Mr Trump several times during her tenure, most notably last month during his official state visit to London (pictured)
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blasted President Donald Trump for suggesting that she and other progressive lawmakers ‘go back’ to their countries and fix what’s broken there before telling the United States how the government should operate
‘Which is why we are fighting to protect it from the worst, most corrupt and inept president we have ever seen.’
But Mr Trump showed no sign of backing down, tweeting early this morning, Washington time: ‘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.
‘I can tell you that they have made Israel feel abandoned by the US.’
Few Republicans weighed in on the president’s comments. Congressional leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, did not respond to requests for comment, nor did Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Republican black senator.
Mark Morgan, the acting commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection, in a previously scheduled appearance on ‘Face the Nation’ on CBS, said only: ‘You’re going to have to ask the president what he means by those specific tweets.’
Shortly after the tweets, and a later presidential post defending the harsh scenes at a border detention facility where hundreds of migrant men are being held in sweltering, foul-smelling conditions, Trump left the White House to go golfing at his Virginia club.
Earlier on Sunday, Trump told congresswomen to go fix the countries they are originally from before getting involved with American politics. It is believed he is referring to AOC, Pressley, Tlaib and Omar
Omar is a Somali-American who fled the African country with her family when she was a young child
Omar said in a tweet: ‘Mr. President, As Members of Congress, the only country we swear an oath to is the United States. Which is why we are fighting to protect it from the worst, most corrupt and inept president we have ever seen’
Freshman progressive Reps Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Rashida Tlaib (left) and Ayanna Pressley (right) have been at odds with House leadership after becoming the only four to vote against against a $4.6billion border bill
Mr Trump appeared unbowed Sunday night when he returned to Twitter to say it was ‘so sad’ to see Democrats sticking up for the women.
‘If the Democrat Party wants to continue to condone such disgraceful behavior,’ he tweeted, ‘then we look even more forward to seeing you at the ballot box in 2020!’
It was far from the first time that Trump has been accused of holding racist views.
In his campaign kickoff in June 2015, Trump deemed many Mexican immigrants ‘rapists.’ In 2017, he said there good people on ‘both sides’ of the clash in Charlottesville, Virginia, between white supremacists and anti-racist demonstrators that left one counter-protester dead.
Last year, during a private White House meeting on immigration, Trump wondered why the United States was admitting so many immigrants from ‘sh*thole countries’ like African nations.