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A Virginia pastor is drawing support and rebuke for an "America: Love or Leave It" sign posted outside his church days after President Trump told four progressive congresswomen of color to "go back" to their countries "from which they came."
Pastor E. W. Lucas and his wife have posted signs outside the Friendship Baptist Church in Appomattox since 1979.
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"I thought I was going to make some remarks regarding the situation in Washington," Lucas told WSET-TV in Lynchburg. "It just came to me... America, I love it. If you don't love it, leave it.'"
On Sunday, President Trump said Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., "originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe" and should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came", then "come back and show us how it is done."
Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib and Pressley were born in the United States. Omar was born in Somalia and is an American citizen.
On Tuesday, Trump doubled down on his remarks, saying the four lawmakers "can go wherever they want, or they can stay," but "they should love our country. They shouldn’t hate our country."
That same day, House Democrats approved a resolution condemning the message as "racist." The vote passed largely along party lines, with just four Republicans joining Democrats to condemn the tweet.
"People that feel hard about our president and want to down the president, and down the country and everything, they ought to go over there and live in these other countries for a little while," said Lucas.
On the church's Facebook page, some commented that they love the sign. Some said they liked the message but disapproved of mixing religion and politics. Others called it a "disgrace."
"Hypocrites going against their stated mission to LOVE their neighbors," one person wrote.
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Lucas said he plans to leave the sign up because of the favorable reactions its garnered.
"Preachers, by and large, today, are afraid they're gonna hurt somebody's feelings," he said. "When I get in the pulpit, I'm afraid I won't hurt somebody's feelings."