Donald Trump Called ‘Racist’ After Allegedly Calling Haiti And African Nations ‘S***hole Countries’ In Meeting
Donald Trump is being accused of being a “racist” after a report claimed that he called Haiti and African nations “s***hole countries” in a meeting with lawmakers at the White House.
The bombshell report led a number of people to speak out against Donald Trump and what they saw as a blatant display of racism toward people of color. As the Washington Post reported, the meeting was to address immigration protection for people from a number of countries. As multiple participants told the Post, Trump mused about why people from mostly black countries kept coming to the United States.
“Why are we having all these people from s***hole countries come here?” Trump said.
Trump went on to suggest that the United States should take in more immigrants from countries like Norway, a nearly all-white country.
The statement sparked immediate controversy, especially after reports that Trump denigrated immigrants from mostly black countries. Late last year, Trump reportedly suggested that Haitian immigrants “all have AIDS,” and Nigerian immigrants would go back to “their huts” if admitted into the United States, the New York Times reported.
Many individuals and groups seized on Trump’s comments about “s**thole countries,” calling it a nakedly racist statement from a president who has a history of making racially charged statements. Early in the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump shared an infographic on his Twitter account about black crime that used fabricated statistics to make black people look violent, FactCheck.org noted. Later, the political blog, Little Green Footballs, traced the infographic back to its source – an avowed neo-Nazi.
I can’t believe this new evidence that Trump is racist. Who could’ve seen that one coming?
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) January 11, 2018
There are no words for language like this except for one: Racist. https://t.co/KHLMiiHewh
— ACLU (@ACLU) January 11, 2018
Here’s the full story of @realDonaldTrump’s disgracefully and obscenely racist slam at Haitians, Africans, and, it seems, just about everyone but white Northern Europeans. This is who this man is. https://t.co/Iqjjug4pXY
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) January 11, 2018
Some Democratic opponents took direct aim at Trump for the alleged statements, including Rep. Mark Pocan, who asked on Twitter why the United States would allow presidents from “sh*thole companies” like Trump Org.
The real question is why we allow presidents from sh*thole companies like the Trump Organization https://t.co/OHD7rLPHwK
— Rep. Mark Pocan (@RepMarkPocan) January 11, 2018
The White House issued a statement about Trump’s views on immigration but did not directly address claims that he referred to Haiti and African nations as “s**thole countries.”
“Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people,” a White House spokesman said (via The Hill).
Donald Trump has not responded directly to the reports that he referred to Haiti and African nations as “s***hole countries.”
