Republican leaders greet latest outburst with a wall of silence

Insinuating that people of colour are foreigners, the president used a trope broadly viewed as racist when he tweeted on Sunday morning that the Democratic women - only one of whom was born outside the United States and all of whom are American citizens - "originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe." The silence of Republican leaders appeared to suggest either that they agreed with the views expressed by their standard-bearer or that he has so effectively consolidated his control over their party that they have grown disinclined to voice dissent.