Trump denounces Dems at rally, plays down race

CINCINNATI (AP) — President Donald Trump used a revved-up rally in Cincinnati to tear into the Democrats he has been elevating as his new political foils, attacking four liberal congresswomen of color and their party’s urban leaders, while also training fire on those he could be facing in 2020.

But the president mostly avoided the racial controversy that has dominated recent weeks as he basked in front of the raucous crowd Thursday for nearly 90 minutes, unleashing broadside after broadside on his political foes.

Trump, who had faced widespread criticism for not doing more to stop the chants of “Send her back” about Somali-born Rep. Ilhan Omar at a rally last month, seemed to want to avoid further furor, saying ahead of the rally that he would prefer his supporters avoid the chant.