The four US congresswomen targeted by Donald Trump in attacks widely accused of racism have urged Americans to "not take the bait".
It came as the US president doubled down on his controversial remarks despite growing condemnation.
In a series of tweets on Sunday, Mr Trump tweeted suggesting progressive Democratic Congresswomen "go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came".
While nobody was directly named, it's widely assumed to refer to four prominent progressive politicians - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley - often referred to as 'the Squad'.
Ms Omar was born in Somalia before moving to the US as a child, while the other three women were all born in the US.
The four women held a joint press conference in Washington yesterday to respond to the attacks.
Ms Ocasio-Cortez said she wanted to tell children across the US that "no matter what the president says, this country belongs to you... and it belongs to everyone."
She said: "Today, that very notion was challenged. This weekend, that very notion was challenged.
"I am not surprised when the president says that four sitting members of Congress should go back to their own country... when he has authorised raids without warrants on thousands of families across this country."
The New York representative added: "All of this is a distraction - it's a distraction from what's most important and from our core values as American citizens."
Ms Pressley, meanwhile, encouraged all Americans to "not take the bait".
She argued: "This is a disruptive distraction from the issues of care, concern and consequence to the American people, that we were sent here with a decisive mandate from our constituents to work on."
Ms Tlaib said the recent tweets from the US president were "simply a continuation of his racist, xenophobic playbook", while Ms Omar claimed the "agenda of white nationalists" had reached the White House.
Rep. Ilhan Omar: "We have to take action when a president is openly violating the oath he took to the Constitution of the United States and the core values we aspire to" https://t.co/hk4AhBuYRc pic.twitter.com/tIJv1icmKm
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) July 15, 2019
The Washington Post reports that Democrats in the House of Representatives are preparing a resolution condemning Mr Trump’s remarks.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi - who has previously been embroiled in a public feud with the four progressive congresswomen - said her party would “forcefully respond to these disgusting attacks".
White House comments
(190715) -- WASHINGTON, July 15, 2019 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the 3rd annual Made in America product showcase at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, July 15, 2019. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)Meanwhile, Donald Trump continued his attacks on the progressive congresswomen during a press conference in the White House yesterday.
He falsely accused Ms Omar of "talking about how great al Qaeda is", and claimed all four women "hate our country".
When questioned about whether it concerned him that many people saw the tweets as racist, President Trump responded: "It doesn’t concern me because many people agree with me.
"And all I’m saying - they want to leave, they can leave. Now, it doesn’t say leave forever. It says leave, if you want."
On Monday, a number of Republicans joined Democrats in condemning Trump's remarks - but often in more cautious language than their political rivals.
Senator Susan Collins said: "I disagree strongly with many of the views and comments of some of the far-left members of the House Democratic Caucus - especially when it comes to their views on socialism, their anti-Semitic rhetoric, and their negative comments about law enforcement.
"But the President’s tweet that some Members of Congress should go back to the ‘places from which they came’ was way over the line, and he should take that down.”
However, a small number of Republican politicians took a stronger line and directly called the president's remarks racist.
I am confident that every Member of Congress is a committed American. @realDonaldTrump’s tweets from this weekend were racist and he should apologize. We must work as a country to rise above hate, not enable it.
— US Rep. Mike Turner (@RepMikeTurner) July 15, 2019
