Dems react to Trump post suggesting changing New Mexico's name

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — President Donald Trump has gotten quite a reaction after he posted on social media a map suggesting that New Mexico should be renamed 'New America.' Trump only posted the map and did not put any text or explanation about it. It shows a map of the state of New Mexico with the word 'Mexico' crossed out and the word America written in its place. This comes several days after Trump signed an executive order to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. Earlier in this presidency, he issued a similar executive order to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-New Mexico, issued a statement responding to Trump's social media posts. Vasquez said in part: 'You don't get to erase New Mexico. Not our name. Not our history. Not our culture. The President may want to call us 'New America,' but we know who we are.' New Mexico Democratic Party spokeswoman Mila Myles said in part: 'Donald Trump lost his mind a long time ago, but his assertion to rename New Mexico 'New America' absolutely takes the cake.' Democratic politicians in New Mexico have also called on Republicans in the state to denounce the president's post. Critics say that Trump makes these type of inflammatory posts to distract from what they call the failings of his presidency. CNN in its reporting of this story noted that the president does not have the constitutional authority to rename a state.