U.S. President Donald Trump is reported to have referred to Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries” during a meeting with a bipartisan group of senators at the White House, a Democratic aide briefed on Thursday’s meeting said, according to the Washington Post.
The President reportedly rejected a pitch from the senators on a compromise immigration deal to protect DACA recipients (the illegal immigration population that fall under the previous Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive order) while increasing border security.
“Why do we want all these people from ‘shithole countries’ coming here?” Trump reportedly said.
The President suggested that the United States should instead bring more people from countries such as Norway, whose Prime Minister he met with on Wednesday.
Trump, according to a White House official, also suggested he would be open to more immigrants from Asian countries because he felt that they help the United States economically.
Condemnation from around the world followed immediately, “There is no other word one can use but racist,” the UN human rights spokesman, Rupert Colville, told a Geneva news briefing.
“You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as ‘shitholes’, whose entire populations, who are not white, are therefore not welcome.”
The African Union said it was “frankly alarmed” by Trump’s language.
“Given the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, this statement flies in the face of all accepted behaviour and practice,” AU spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo told the Associated Press.
“This is particularly surprising as the United States of America remains a global example of how migration gave birth to a nation built on strong values of diversity and opportunity.”
Vicente Fox, Mexico’s former president and a prominent Trump critic, said that the president’s “mouth was “the foulest shithole in the world.” Adding that America’s greatness was built on diversity.
Trump has in turn said he did not use the words attributed to him.
The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made – a big setback for DACA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018
“The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made – a big setback for DACA!” Trump said in a tweet early Friday.
The tweet was followed by another one touting his “wonderful relationship with Haitians”.
Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said “take them out.” Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings – unfortunately, no trust!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018
|Sun
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