Trump rally crowd chants 'send her back' as president attacks congresswoman Ilhan Omar

Donald Trump rallied Republican supporters in North Carolina by harshly criticising four congresswoman of colour of being un-American and claiming they would ruin the United States.

The attacks from the president during his campaign rally particularly targeted Rep. Ilhan Omar, a first-time Democrat lawmaker and Somali refugee, as he continued what has been a days-long diatribe.

“She looks down with contempt on the hard-working Americans saying that ignorance is pervasive in many parts of this country,” Mr Trump said of Ms Omar as the crowd booed at the mention of her name.

The raucous crowd at the rally chanted "send her back", in reference to Mr Trump's racially-tinged tweets that urged the four congresswomen to leave the US than complain about his governance.

Mr Trump then went on with his deeply personal attack against the liberal Ms Omar by referencing her comments about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which some perceived as minimizing the event.

The jabs at Ms Omar came as part of his wider excoriation of the four liberal congresswomen known as "the squad": Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley and Ms Omar.

"I think in some cases they hate our country," Mr Trump declared to the crowd in Greenville, North Carolina, a swing state he won in 2016 and will likely need to carry again in next year's election.

The president has ratcheted up his criticisms of the four lawmakers - their rebukes of him has drawn his ire - even as Democrats and some Republicans have condemned his original tweets as racist.

Before he left Washington, Mr Trump said he has no regrets about his ongoing spat with the four. Trump told reporters he thinks he's "winning the political argument" and "winning it by a lot."

"If people want to leave our country, they can. If they don't want to love our country, if they don't want to fight for our country, they can," Mr Trump said. "I'll never change on that."

The president's incendiary rhetoric against Ms Omar and the other congresswomen came during a rally that was filled with his usual criticisms of media outlets and the investigation by Robert Mueller.

Mr Mueller, the former special counsel, had been scheduled to testify before two House panels on Wednesday about Russia's election interference and possible obstruction of justice by Mr Trump.

The campaign rally in North Carolina was organised, it is thought, in part so that Mr Trump could deliver counter-programming to Mr Mueller's testimony that would have been aired live on TV.

Mr Mueller's appearance on Capitol Hill was ultimately postponed for a week, but Mr Trump brought him up anyway.

"What happened to me with this witch hunt should never be allowed to happen to another president," he said of the former special counsel's near-two year investigations that consumed Washington.

The president also spoke of illegal immigration, a main theme of both his first and now second election campaigns, before brushing off criticism for his tweets. "So controversial," he said sarcastically.

Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings.