WASHINGTON 16 Jul (ANA) - The four US congresswomen attacked by US President Donald Trump in tweets widely called racist have dismissed his remarks as a distraction. 

Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib urged the US people "not to take the bait" at a Monday news conference.

Mr Trump had suggested the four women - all US citizens - "can leave".

He has defended his comments and denied allegations of racism.

The president did not explicitly name the women in his initial Twitter tirade on Sunday, but the context made a clear link to the four Democrat women, who are known as The Squad.

He sparked a furore after saying the women "originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe" and they should go home. 

Three of the women were born in the US and one, Ms Omar, was born in Somalia but came to the US as a child. 

Following the outcry, the four women told reporters they wanted to re-focus attention on to the president's policies.

"This is simply a disruption and a distraction from the callous chaos and corrupt culture of this administration, all the way down," Ms Pressley said.

Both Ms Omar and Ms Tlaib repeated their calls for Mr Trump to be impeached. 

Ms Pressley dismissed the president's efforts "to marginalise us and to silence us".

She added: "Our squad includes any person committed to building a more equitable and just world."

All four women insisted that health care, gun violence and, in particular, detentions of migrants on the US border with Mexico should be in focus. 

"The eyes of history are watching us," said Ms Omar said, decrying the "mass deportation raids" and "human rights abuses at the border".(ANA) 

FA/ANA/16 July 2019--------