Sniping from gutter leaves prez in a hole
Hub Haitians blast back at cussword attack
Politicians and HaitianAmericans slammed President Trump for his reported foul-mouthed attack on Haiti and other countries, with Gov. Charlie Baker calling for an apology and some demanding Congress hit back.
“Those comments are appalling and disgraceful and have no place in public or private discourse, period,” Baker said. “He owes an apology to all the people he broad-brushed with those statements, many of whom came here simply looking for a better life.”
State Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry, a first-generation immigrant of Haitian descent, teared up as she described being exhausted by having to push back on Trump, who she called a bully.
“Today we say enough is enough, you’re going to be held accountable and now we have to do the work in pushing the people who are with him in Congress, and if they are not going to step up and denounce what he’s saying, then they gotta be out,” the Dorchester Democrat added.
Trump yesterday denied disparaging Haiti at a Thursday meeting with legislators to discuss the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Numerous people in the room claimed Trump said, “Why are we having all these people from s---hole countries come here?” in reference to Haiti, El Salvador and African coun- tries, and later said,
“Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out.”
And U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he was in the room and heard Trump use the word “s---hole” and called the president’s language
“vile, hateful and racist.”
Those words landed with a thud yesterday.
Geralde Gabeau, executive director of the Roslindale nonprofit Immigrant Family Services Institute, called Trump’s comments a “double sword” as Haitians reflect on the an- niversary of the deadly 2010 earth- quake.
“What does it mean to live in a country where you are not welcomed by your president?” she added.
“Sadly, his views and his presidency serve to embolden other hateful people and to diminish our nation’s position as a power for good, for decency, for democracy,” Dorcena Forry said.
Mishella Etienne-Campbell, 45, and her mother, Edna Etienne, 76, owners of Le Foyer Bakery in Mattapan, were equally outraged.
“I woke up this morning very sad,” Etienne-Campbell said. “I realized in the U.S. we have a president who is so insensitive, so ignorant to the contributions of Haitian Americans to the United States. I don’t think he knows American history.”
She noted how Haitian leaders and free slaves fought alongside American soldiers in the Revolutionary War.
Her mother added: “The president should know that Haiti was the first country freed by our own. We helped Americans fight for their own freedom.”