Inslee calls Trump a 'white nationalist'

Inslee takes the stage at the second Democratic Presidential Debate.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee takes the stage at the second Democratic Presidential Debate.

DETROIT — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is the first candidate on Wednesday's Democratic presidential debate stage to call President Donald Trump a racist.

"We can no longer allow a white nationalist to be in the White House," Inslee said as candidates debated immigration policy.

Democrats and some Republicans have criticized Trump in recent weeks for using Twitter to say four Democratic women in Congress should "go back" to their countries of origin. All four are U.S. citizens, and three were born in the country.

Julián Castro was the second Democratic presidential candidate in Wednesday's debate to explicitly label President Donald Trump a "racist."

The former Obama Cabinet secretary was among several candidates hammering Trump as they sought to stand out on issues of race.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says she feels responsibility as "a white woman" to challenge institutional racism. She says it's not just up to the two leading black candidates, Sens. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, to talk about race.

Sen. Michael Bennet is chiding CNN moderators for asking questions about former Vice President Joe Biden's position on federally mandated busing in the 1970s when "our schools are as segregated today as they were 50 years ago."