In a meeting with lawmakers in the oval office Thursday, Donald Trump reportedly ‘grew frustrated’ according to the Washington Post with the notion of restoring protections for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and various African countries. So frustrated in fact that the President of the United States was quoted as saying ‘why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?’
Instead, Trump suggested the United States should focus more on bringing in immigrants from Norway, which comes after meeting with that countries prime minister Erna Solberg Wednesday. It’s also a country that’s majority white and majority Christian further insinuating a racial dog whistle that Trump has done before. This includes a New York Times report from back in December when Trump said that Haitian immigrants from the United States ‘all have AIDS’ and that Nigerian immigrants would ‘never got back to their huts’ if granted entry into the U.S..
Per the WP:
The comments left lawmakers taken aback, according to people familiar with their reactions. Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) proposed cutting the visa lottery program by 50 percent and then prioritizing countries already in the system, a White House official said.
A White House spokesman declined to offer an immediate comment on Trump’s remarks
Since Trump’s comments and the Washington Post report, the White House released the following statement:
White House's reaction to @jdawsey1's scoop that the President referred to immigrants from Haiti & African countries as coming from "shithole countries." WH spox Raj Shah statement: https://t.co/drFGGDZYVo pic.twitter.com/7owjJXaVzc
— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) January 11, 2018
Notice there was no denial by the White House on the President’s remarks that further imply that immigrants from ‘shithole’ countries are going to somehow ‘threaten the lives of hardworking Americans’.
I’d like to say I’m shocked at both statements however I think I as well as many other people living in the United States, the President’s childish and bigoted behavior has gone numb on us which in every way is sad and incredibly alarming.
