GettyPresident Donald Trump is no friend to foreigners.
After initiating a travel ban most would consider a slap in the face of human rights law, saying he wants to build a wall around Mexico to keep out the ‘rapists and criminals‘, failing to condemn the actions of neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, and retweeting anti-Muslim propaganda from a racist British political party, President Trump has taken to racial controversy like a duck to water.
It should come as no surprise then, to his supporters and detractors alike, that Mr Trump asked a meeting of lawmakers in the Oval Office, ‘Why are we having all these people from sh*thole countries come here?’
GettyAt a meeting yesterday, The Donald grew frustrated during discussions over protecting immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries as part of a bipartisan immigration deal, according to several people briefed on the meeting.
Beyond comparing the nations of Haiti, El Salvador and all African countries to a ‘sh*thole’, Trump concluded the Unites States should be welcoming more people from places like Norway, reports the Washington Post.
Subtext, for those who can’t translate words from the President’s very own ‘sh*thole’: ‘White people only, please.’
GettyTrump singled out Haiti, asking lawmakers:
Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out.
The president, according to a White House official, also suggested he would be open to more immigrants from Asian countries because he felt they help the United States economically.
GettyDespite the lawmakers present being reportedly taken aback by the insensitivity of his comments, other White House officials have not disputed the account.
Spokesman Raj Shah said in a public statement:
Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people.
…Like other nations that have merit-based immigration, President Trump is fighting for permanent solutions that make our country stronger by welcoming those who can contribute to our society, grow our economy and assimilate into our great nation.
GettyTrump’s comments are feared to be causing rifts the in bipartisan discussions on immigration, which had been going well, according to legislators.
Representative Luis Gutiérrez said the comments ‘will shake the confidence that people have’ in the ongoing immigration policy talks, adding the statement implies the President is against immigration of persons of colour, legal or not.
It now sounds like GOP opposition to legal #immigration is preventing deal to give @RealDonaldTrump his wall. We should address illegal immigration, not seek to undocument immigrants already here & working legally or to prevent people coming with visas in future.
— Luis V. Gutierrez (@RepGutierrez) January 11, 2018
Gutiérrez added:
Democrats and Republicans in the Senate made a proposal. The answer is this racist outburst of the president. How can you take him seriously? They [Republicans] don’t believe in immigration – it’s always been about people of colour and keeping them out of this country.
Representative Cedric L. Richmond, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said Trump’s remarks ‘are further proof that his Make America Great Again Agenda is really a Make America White Again agenda.’
CBC Chairman @RepRichmond: "@realDonaldTrump's 'shithole' comments are further proof that his Make America Great Again agenda is really a Make America White Again agenda."
— Black Caucus (@OfficialCBC) January 11, 2018
For those of us hoping Trump’s controversial comments were merely showboating for his Twitter army, these latest racially pigheaded comments show the President means business behind closed doors too.
Here’s a compilation of all the controversial things POTUS has said on social media:
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Republicans also raised objections to his latest tirade, with Representative Mia Love, whose family is from Haiti, dubbing the remarks ‘unkind, divisive, elitist’, adding they ‘fly in the face of our nation’s values’.
She concluded ‘this behaviour is unacceptable from the leader of our nation’. When he can’t even get his own team on side, you know something’s rotten.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.