Rep. Will Hurd William Ballard HurdHillicon Valley: Oracle confirms deal with TikTok to be 'trusted technology provider' | QAnon spreads across globe, shadowing COVID-19 | VA hit by data breach impacting 46,000 veterans House approves bill to secure internet-connected federal devices against cyber threats House Democrats' campaign arm reserves .6M in ads in competitive districts MORE (Texas) on Monday became the first GOP lawmaker to publicly condemn recent tweets from President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE as racist.



Speaking to CNN host Christiane Amanpour, Hurd not only said Trump’s tweets were "racist" and "xenophobic," but also labeled them “inaccurate.”





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“The four women he is referring to are actually citizens of the United States, three of the four were born here,” Hurd said. “It’s also behavior that's unbecoming of the leader of the free world.”Trump tweeted Sunday that a group of Democrats should "go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”

While the tweets did not name anyone directly, they appeared to attack a group of progressive freshman lawmakers made up of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-CortezOn The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline McCarthy says there will be a peaceful transition if Biden wins Anxious Democrats amp up pressure for vote on COVID-19 aid MORE (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar Ilhan OmarOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Trump attacks Omar for criticizing US: 'How did you do where you came from?' Democrats scramble on COVID-19 relief amid division, Trump surprise MORE (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib Rashida Harbi TlaibTrump attacks Omar for criticizing US: 'How did you do where you came from?' George Conway: 'Trump is like a practical joke that got out of hand' Pelosi endorses Kennedy in Massachusetts Senate primary challenge MORE (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley Ayanna PressleyFauci, Black Lives Matter founders included on Time's 100 Most Influential People list Trump attacks Omar for criticizing US: 'How did you do where you came from?' Pressley applauded on House floor after moving speech on living with alopecia MORE (D-Mass.), all of whom are U.S. citizens.

Omar is the only one of the four not born in America, as she came to the U.S. after leaving Somalia as a refugee with her family.

The attacks from Trump were widely condemned by Democratic lawmakers as racist, though few Republicans have spoken out and those who did stopped short of calling them racist.

Hurd pointed out that he is the only black Republican in the House and that he goes into communities “that most Republicans don’t show up.”

“When you have this [Trump’s tweets] being the debate, that activity becomes even harder,” he said.

JUST IN: Rep. @HurdOnTheHill (R, Texas) tells me that he believes President Trump's tweets on Sunday "were racist and xenophobic."



Interview airs 7pm CET @cnni and tonight on @pbs (check your local listings). pic.twitter.com/GqI50w6Jqe — Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) July 15, 2019

A three-term lawmaker, Hurd noted that Trump’s tweets drew attention away from the infighting within the Democratic Party between Speaker Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiPelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline Trump signs largely symbolic pre-existing conditions order amid lawsuit MORE (D-Calif.) and the progressive lawmakers.

“While you had a civil war going on within the Democratic Party between the far-left and the rest of the party, now they have circled the wagons and are starting to protect one another,” he said.

He added that the debate should be focused on political disagreements, and not “these other issues.”