President Donald Trump's re-election campaign attacked Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York in a campaign email Tuesday for her calls to abolish the Electoral College, telling supporters that "this is our country, not theirs."
The attack was prompted by comments Ocasio-Cortez made last week in which she called the Electoral College a "scam" and said that the constitutionally mandated way the United States picks its presidents dilutes the voting power of people of color, as well as voters in large cities.
"Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently called for abolishing the Electoral College. Remind her that this country belongs to AMERICANS from EVERY zip code, not just the Coastal Elites and Liberal Mega Donors. This is our country, not theirs," the Trump campaign petition said, directing supporters to sign.
The language used in the email is similar to Trump's racist attack on four Democratic congresswomen of color — known as "the squad" — last month in which he tweeted that the group should "go back" and try to fix the "crime infested places" they "originally came from" instead of telling the U.S. government how to handle its problems.
The group includes Ocasio-Cortez and Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. Three of them are U.S.-born. Omar, a Somali refugee, moved to the U.S. when she was 12 and is a naturalized citizen.
Trump won the presidency in 2016 with 304 electoral votes against Hillary Clinton's 227. However, he lost the popular vote by 3 million votes. After the election, he called the Electoral College "genius" and "far better for the U.S.A."
However, in 2012, Trump called the system a "disaster" in a tweet after President Barack Obama won re-election.
In a tweet Tuesday, Ocasio-Cortez replied to Trump's 2012 tweet: "I’m so glad the President and I agree that the Electoral College has got to go."
