In what will be seen as a major blow to the credibility of the Republican Party amid a storm of outrage over racists remarks and tweets by the president, 41-year Will Hurd announced he will not seek re-election in 2020.

In a statement posted on his official congressional website, Mr Hurd did not mention Mr Trump or racism. However, he underscored what he considered the strength of the country, saying that “America is better than the sum of its parts”.

“Serving people of all walks of life has shown me that way more unites our country than divides us,” he added.

“As the only African American Republican in the House of Representatives and as a congressman who represents a 71 per cent Latino district, I’ve taken a conservative message to places that don’t often hear it.”

All the times that bigger crowds than Trump's showed up to DC Show all 7 1 /7 All the times that bigger crowds than Trump's showed up to DC All the times that bigger crowds than Trump's showed up to DC Million Man March 95 - 837,000 Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan called the Million Man March in 1995 in order that black men could improve their image in society AFP/Getty All the times that bigger crowds than Trump's showed up to DC Million Mom March - Over 700,000 Demanding sensible gun legislation, over 700,000 mothers, grandmothers and other marched on Washington in the year 2000 AFP/Getty All the times that bigger crowds than Trump's showed up to DC March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom - 300,000 The 1963 march that saw Martin Luther King give his famous 'I have a dream' speech drew 300,000 people to the National Mall to demand civil rights AFP/Getty All the times that bigger crowds than Trump's showed up to DC Women's March - Over 200,000 The day after the inauguration of President Trump, women all over the world took to the streets in protest of his comments on women. 200,000 marched on Washington alone. AFP/Getty All the times that bigger crowds than Trump's showed up to DC March for Women's Lives - 1.1 million A pro-choice rally in 2004 drew over a million people to the National Mall to protest against the Bush administration's policies on family planning and reproductive health issues Reuters All the times that bigger crowds than Trump's showed up to DC March on Washington for LGBT rights - Over 1,000,000 Over 1,000,000 people marched on Washington in April 1993 to demand greater rights for LGBT people AFP/Getty All the times that bigger crowds than Trump's showed up to DC Obama's Inauguration - 1.1 million The inauguration on Barack Obama in January 2009 drew 1.1 million (top) people to the National Mall, the highest number since Lyndon B Johnson's second inauguration in 1965. President Trump falsely claimed that his crowd (bottom) was bigger Reuters

Mr Hurd, who represents Texas’s 23rd congressional district which runs along a large section of the Mexico border, had in recent weeks been put in a difficult situation by racist tweets and comments made by the president about four Democratic congresswomen – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. Mr Trump told them to “go back home”, even though three were born in the US and the fourth came as a refugee two decades ago.

Speaking on CNN last month, Mr Hurd said the comments were racist and xenophobic. Saying Mr Trump’s behaviour was not becoming of the leader of the free world, he said the president should be “talking about things that unite us, not divide us”.

“I think those tweets are racist and xenophobic. They’re also inaccurate,” he said.

“Look, I’m the only black Republican in the House of Representatives. I go into communities that most Republicans don’t show up in order to take a conservative message.

“This makes it harder in order to take our ideas, and our platform, to communities that don’t necessarily identify with the Republican Party.”