The President has come under fire after an attack on three Democrat congresswomen. But today he took to Twitter to insist the attacks were a smokescreen. He said: “Those Tweets were NOT Racist. I don’t have a Racist bone in my body!

“The so-called vote to be taken is a Democrat con game.

“Republicans should not show ‘weakness’ and fall into their trap.

“This should be a vote on the filthy language, statements and lies told by the Democrat Congresswomen, who I truly believe, based on their actions, hate our Country.

“Get a list of the HORRIBLE things they have said.”

The President even said that some congresswomen “should go back to their crime-infested countries”, which has created a racism storm.

Of the four women in the so-called ‘squad’, Ms Omar is the only one who was born outside the United States. Ms Omar is a naturalised US Citizen having entered the country as a Somalian refugee more than 20 years ago, 

But hitting back today, Mr Trump added: “Omar is polling at 8%, Cortez at 21%. Nancy Pelosi tried to push them away, but now they are forever wedded to the Democrat Party. See you in 2020!”

In a joint press conference on Monday, the four congresswoman dismissed the President’s tweets as just a distraction, urging fellow Americans to not take the bait. 

The four said that health care, gun crime and the detention of migrants should be their main focus, while Ms Omar added that the attack was the agenda of white nationalists and that Mr Trump wanted nothing more than to divide the country. 

The row comes after the four visited a migrant detention centre, with Democrats saying that the current set up holds migrants in inhumane conditions. But Mr Trump hit back, saying he felt the facilities had great reviews. 

The President’s comments were attacked by former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who tweeted: “people can disagree over politics and policy, but telling American citizens to go back to where they came from is over the line.”

Downing Street has slammed the comments, with a spokesman for Theresa May adding: “The Prime Minister’s view is that the language used to refer to these women was totally unacceptable.” 

Tory leadership candidates Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson condemned the attacks, with Mr Hunt adding that he was appalled by the tweets. 

More to follow