White House counselor Kellyanne Conway attempted to defend President Donald Trump’s racist Twitter rant against progressive Democratic congresswomen by asking a reporter his ethnicity. At a press gaggle outside the White House on Tuesday, Breakfast Media reporter Andrew Feinberg asked Conway about Trump’s comments over the weekend, in which he said the representatives should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” Conway responded: “What’s your ethnicity?” When Feinberg pushed back on that question, she responded, “I’m asking you a question. My ancestors are from Ireland and Italy,” and went on to insist that the question was relevant. “No, it is [relevant] because you’re asking about ... [Trump] said ‘originally.’ He said ‘originally from.’ And you know everything he has said since, and to have a full conversation,” argued Conway.

JUST NOW: I asked @KellyannePolls, who’d just said @realDonaldTrump was not telling Omar/Tlaib/Pressley/AOC to go back to Somalia/Gaza/Puerto Rico/etc, which countries he was referring to.



She responded by asking me where my ancestors came from, thereby confirming what he meant — Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) July 16, 2019

Trump didn’t use the word “originally” in his tweet and did not name the congresswomen, though from context he was almost certainly referring to Reps. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley, all women of color. After the exchange, Feinberg tweeted he identifies as a mix of Russian, Polish, Lithuanian and Latvian and that Conway’s question “inadvertently confirmed that [Trump] was telling [the congresswomen] to return to Somalia, Gaza, Puerto Rico, and somewhere in Africa.”

By asking about my ethnicity (a mix of 🇵🇱 🇱🇹 🇷🇺 and 🇱🇻, I’m told) in response to my question, @KellyannePolls inadvertently confirmed that @realDonaldTrump was telling @IlhanMN, @RashidaTlaib, @AOC, @AyannaPressley to return to Somalia, Gaza, Puerto Rico, and somewhere in Africa. https://t.co/0egLbFXILk — Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) July 16, 2019

Feinberg reiterated the sentiment of his tweets to HuffPost, saying he found the exchange “bizarre.” “As I told her, my own family’s ethnic background wasn’t relevant, but I’m glad she was able to confirm that President Trump was suggesting that the three American-born congresswomen in question could return to the places their ancestors came from (and Rep. Omar could return to Somalia) if they disagree with his administration’s policies,” he said. Conway later tweeted that she meant “no disrespect” and that she is proud of her own ethnicity and “love[s] the USA & grateful to God to be an American.”

This was meant with no disrespect.



We are all from somewhere else “originally”. I asked the question to answer the question and volunteered my own ethnicity: Italian and Irish.



Like many, I am proud of my ethnicity, love the USA & grateful to God to be an American 🇺🇸 https://t.co/OvBALIO6WP — Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) July 16, 2019