Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth WarrenWarren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Joint Chiefs chairman says he regrets participating in Trump photo-op | GOP senators back Joint Chiefs chairman who voiced regret over Trump photo-op | Senate panel approves 0B defense policy bill Trump on collision course with Congress over bases with Confederate names MORE (D-Mass.)\u00a0took aim at\u00a0President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE on Thursday after he announced that he was dropping his administration\u2019s effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, accusing him\u00a0of trying to incite hatred and inflame racial tensions by initially seeking to compile citizenship data on millions of Americans.<\/p>\n
Warren’s remarks at a presidential town hall hosted by the League of United Latin American Citizens came hours after Trump reversed course, backtracking on\u00a0previous efforts this week to push forward with including the question after the Supreme Court blocked the move.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Asked about her reaction to Trump’s decision on Thursday, Warren initially feigned\u00a0amazement.<\/p>\n
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“Wow, he\u2019s going to follow the law?” Warren quipped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“This is not about trying to find out real information about citizenship and non-citizenship in America,” she continued. “This is just about trying to stir up more hate. To try to get some more people excited.”<\/p>\n
Trump said\u00a0Thursday that he would instead issue an executive order requiring federal agencies to provide the Commerce Department information on citizens and noncitizens in the United States, a process he said would provide a more accurate count.<\/p>\n
Warren said Trump’s insistence on collecting data on people’s citizenship status fit into a broader pattern of behavior for the president, accusing him of routinely pitting Americans of different races, religions and ethnicities against one another.<\/p>\n
“Donald Trump has one big message to the American people: If there\u2019s something wrong in your life, if there\u2019s something that\u2019s not working, blame them,” she said. “Blame people who don\u2019t look like you, blame people who don\u2019t sound like you, blame people who don\u2019t pray like you, blame people who weren\u2019t born where you were born.”<\/p>\n