GREENVILLE (North Carolina) • President Donald Trump has road-tested his attacks on four Democratic congresswomen, casting them as avatars of anti-American radicalism and reiterating his call for them to leave the US, in a preview of a slash-and-burn re-election strategy that depicts him as a bulwark against a "dangerous, militant hard left".
"These left-wing ideologues see our nation as a force for evil," Mr Trump told a packed arena in a North Carolina city on Wednesday.
To roaring applause, he railed against what he called "hate-filled extremists who are constantly trying to tear our country down".
"They don't love our country. I think, in some cases, they hate our country. You know what? If they don't love it, tell them to leave it."
In recent days, similar comments by Mr Trump have been met with repugnance across the country.
But the capacity crowd in an arena at East Carolina University seemed to savour them.
After Mr Trump reeled off several controversial comments made by one of the four congresswomen, Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, including ones that he depicted as sympathetic to Al-Qaeda, the crowd started up a rousing chant of "Send her back! Send her back!"
It was the latest sign that the President's plan for winning a second term in office involves playing up racial and nationalist themes that shock the consciences of many Americans but which seem to delight his most ardent supporters.
Mr Trump doubled down with relish on his previous calls for the four congresswomen - Ms Omar, Ms Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ms Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ms Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts - to "go back" to their countries of origin, even though all but one were born in the United States and all four are citizens.
It left no doubt that he was undaunted by furious condemnations of his remarks as racist, including a Tuesday vote by the House.
Wednesday night's event was billed as a "Keep America Great" rally - a boastful variant of Mr Trump's 2016 campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again".
"Big Rally tonight in Greenville, North Carolina," he tweeted ahead of the event, saying he would play up economic growth and the booming stock market in a state that has narrowly tilted right in the past two presidential contests.
Many Republicans wish he would stick to those themes, saying they think he is overshadowing an economic success story by engaging in name-calling and divisive cultural clashes.
Some say his relentless focus on immigration and other nationalist themes before November's midterm elections alienated swing voters and helped enable Democrats to win the House.
While Mr Trump did devote time to economic growth, he was most animated when attacking his Democratic rivals. He denounced Ms Ocasio-Cortez for calling federal migrant detention centres along the south-western border "concentration camps", saying she had, in effect, called border agents Nazis.
And he said Ms Tlaib had used what he called a "vicious" expletive when she vowed in January that Mr Trump would be impeached.
Shortly after the rally ended, Ms Omar quoted poet Maya Angelou in a tweet: "You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise."
NYTIMES
