Anger over president’s ‘racist’ slur
ASENATOR has rejected Donald Trump’s effort to distance himself from claims that he used vulgar language to describe African countries, claiming the president “said these hate-filled things and he said them repeatedly”.
The president has been accused of questioning why the US should accept more immigrants from Haiti and “s**thole countries” in Africa, during a meeting on immigration.
He said on Twitter yesterday that his language during the meeting was “tough” but insisted: “This was not the language used.”
But Illinois senator Dick Durbin, who was present at the Oval Office meeting, said “s**tholes” was “the exact word used by the president not just once but repeatedly”. He added: “When the question was asked about Haitians ... he said, ‘Haitians? Do we need more Haitians?”’
Mr Trump’s contemptuous description of an entire continent startled legislators at a meeting about a bipartisan immigration deal, according to people briefed on the conversation, and immediately revived charges that the president is racist.
The White House did not deny his remark, but issued a statement saying Mr Trump supports immigration policies that welcome “those who can contribute to our society”.
Yesterday, Mr Trump also tweeted: “Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country,” and claimed: “I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians.”
He denied suggestions in a report in the Washington Post that he had said “take them out”, in reference to Haitians.
Mr Trump’s reported remarks were remarkable even by the standards of a president who has been accused by his foes of racist attitudes and has routinely smashed through public decorum that his modern predecessors have generally embraced.
He has claimed without evidence that Barack Obama, the nation’s first black president, was not born in the US; said Mexican immigrants were “bringing crime” and were “rapists”; and claimed there were “very fine people on both sides” after violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, left a counterprotester dead.
The UN human rights office has said Trump’s reported expletive could “potentially damage and disrupt the lives of many people”.
Repeating the term attributed to the president a day earlier, spokesman Rupert Colville said: “You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as ‘s**tholes’.”
He said the comments were “shocking and shameful” and added: “I’m sorry, but there’s no other word one can use but racist.
“This isn’t just a story about vulgar language, it’s about opening the door to humanity’s worst side.”
He added that the reported comments “go against the universal values the world has been striving so hard to establish since World War Two and the Holocaust”.
The African Union continental body said it was “frankly alarmed” by the reported outburst.
“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 said.
“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.”
African governments quickly found themselves in an awkward position. As top recipients of US aid, some hesitated to jeopardise it by criticising Mr Trump, especially as his administration has sought to slash foreign assistance.
“Unless it was specifically said about South Sudan, we have nothing to say,” said South Sudan government spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny.
But South Africa’s ruling African National Congress called the comments “extremely offensive”.