President Donald Trump fired back via Twitter Sunday evening at Democrats and others accusing him of racism after he tweeted that four far-left congresswomen should “go back” and fix the countries “they originally came from.”

“So sad to see the Democrats sticking up for people who speak so badly of our Country and who, in addition, hate Israel with a true and unbridled passion,” Trump tweeted. “Whenever confronted, they call their adversaries, including Nancy Pelosi, ‘RACIST.’ Their disgusting language and the many terrible things they say about the United States must not be allowed to go unchallenged. If the Democrat Party wants to continue to condone such disgraceful behavior, then we look even more forward to seeing you at the ballot box in 2020!”

So sad to see the Democrats sticking up for people who speak so badly of our Country and who, in addition, hate Israel with a true and unbridled passion. Whenever confronted, they call their adversaries, including Nancy Pelosi, “RACIST.” Their disgusting language….. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 15, 2019

….and the many terrible things they say about the United States must not be allowed to go unchallenged. If the Democrat Party wants to continue to condone such disgraceful behavior, then we look even more forward to seeing you at the ballot box in 2020! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 15, 2019

Earlier Sunday, the president tweeted that “‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen” — likely referring to Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley — should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it’s done.” All of them except Omar were born in the United States. (RELATED: Former ICE Director Tom Homan Leaves Ocasio-Cortez Speechless On Immigration)

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Trump’s initial tweets drew an intense firestorm in response. The hashtags #RacistInChief and #TrumpIsARacist trended number one and two late Sunday.

While everyone from Nancy Pelosi to Bill Kristol accused the president of “racism” based on the “go back” comment, others pointed out that if the president had racist motives he would have never invited the same people to “come back and show us how it’s done.”

Not race. Patriotism. Irrespective of skin color. @AOC, @RashidaTlaib, and @IlhanMN hate America. @realDonaldTrump loves America. As does his whole family. Jew, Legal Immigrant, or natural born citizen. pic.twitter.com/eK3I57E7yg — Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) July 14, 2019

Anyone who says the president told members of Congress to go back to where they came from is lying. He told them to “Then come back and show us how it is done.” pic.twitter.com/7pmb0DNz1c — Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) July 14, 2019

I have read this tweet over and over again trying to discern how ANYONE could perceive this as #racist in any way. My only conclusion is this: If you ARE a racist, you see racism everywhere – even in tweets, like this one, which have NOTHING to do with race.#LiberalsAreRacists https://t.co/F4CCGwhVRD — Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) July 14, 2019

Here’s a synopsis of Trump’s tweet: “If you think you can fix America’s problems, go back to your corrupt home country, fix theirs, then return and show us how it is done.” Nothing even REMOTELY xenophobic or racist.

Only a complete racist themselves would see racism in that. — Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) July 14, 2019

I came to America as a Muslim immigrant, now a proud American citizen. I stand in full support w/ our president. If they hate America so much, there are 194 other countries to choose from. No one is stopping Ilhan Omar from going back to the sh*thole country she came from. https://t.co/RsvVwbijLF — Shireen Qudosi (@ShireenQudosi) July 14, 2019

.@realDonaldTrump made a valid point. If @IlhanMN, @Rashidsafi, and @AOC want to transform America into the countries from where they themselves or their ancestors fled, then they should go back to the place from which they came. This isn’t “racist”. It’s the truth. — CJ Pearson (@thecjpearson) July 14, 2019