President Donald Trump attended a meeting where he rejected a bipartisan deal on the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals program, otherwise known as DACA, on Thursday Jan. 11. In the meeting, in reference to Haiti, El Salvador and African countries President Trump reportedly said “Why do we want all these people from ‘s***hole countries’ to come here?”
He then added that the United States should admit more people from countries like Norway. These comments have aggravated many people who have called his comments racist, ignorant and vulgar.
“The African Union Commission is frankly alarmed at statements by the president of the United States when referring to migrants of African countries and others in such contemptuous terms. Considering the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the U.S. during the Atlantic slave trade, this flies in the face of all accepted behavior and practice,” spokeswoman for the African Union Ebba Kalondo said.
Trump is now denying the claims. He went to twitter saying “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!”
An hour later he then returned to twitter stating “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!”
This statement came as a shock to Democratic senator Dick Durbin, a key negotiator in DACA who was present at the meeting.
“I’ve not read one of them that’s inaccurate. He said these hate-filled things and he said them repeatedly,” Durbin said in a statement.
The White House has yet to deny the claims that Trump used this language. Instead, when White House official Kaitlan Collins was asked about the “s***hole” comment, she responded with “The President’s ‘s***hole’ remark is being received much differently inside of the White House than it is outside of it. Though this might enrage Washington, staffers predict the comment will resonate with his base, much like his attacks on NFL players who kneel during the National Anthem did not alienate it.”
As a response to Trump’s comments, US ambassador to Panama John Feeley announced his resignation because he can no longer work for President Trump.
“The President’s comments are unkind, divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nation’s values. This behavior is unacceptable from the leader of our nation,” said Republican Rep. Mia Love of Utah, the first Haitian-American elected into congress, ”My parents came from one of those countries but proudly took an oath of allegiance to the United States and took on the responsibilities of everything that being a citizen comes with. They never took a thing from our federal government. They worked hard, paid taxes and rose from nothing to take care of and provide opportunities for their children. They taught their children to do the same. That’s the American Dream. The President must apologize to both the American people and the nation’s he so wantonly maligned.”