German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that she stands with the four Democratic congresswomen whom President Trump suggested should "go back" to where they came from.
Speaking at a Berlin press conference and quoted by CNN, Merkel said that the comment "undermines America's strength".
"I distance myself from this decidedly and stand in solidarity with the women who were attacked," she said, referring to Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Ilhan Omar (MN), Rashida Tlaib (MI) and Ayanna Pressley (MA)
"The US's strength lies exactly in the fact that people of very different nationalities contribute to the strength of the American people," added Merkel.
"Those [Trump's statements] are sentiments which are very much in opposition to my impressions [about the US], which I strongly believe in, and it is something that undermines America's strength," Merkel said.
Trump on Sunday tweeted that the four women, whom he did not mention by name, should "go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came."
Trump reiterated his criticism a day later, calling on the congresswomen to apologize to the US, to Israel, and to the “office of the presidency.”
The House on Wednesday voted to condemn Trump’s remarks as racist, with four Republicans and an Independent joining the Democrats in their rebuke of the president.