Donald Trump denied on Friday that he used the phrase “shithole countries” to describe Central American and African nations during talks with US lawmakers. However, Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat present at the meeting, contradicted the president, calling his remarks “hate-filled, vile and racist”.
Durbin told local Chicago press that Trump “said these hate-filled things, and he said them repeatedly”. The senator added: “I cannot believe that in the history of the White House and the Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak yesterday.”
According to reports, Trump grew angry during a meeting about protections for immigrants and asked: “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” He also reportedly said: “Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out.” The president suggested the US should bring in more people from Norway instead.
Trump denied the language on Twitter, stating: “The language used by me at the Daca meeting was tough, but this was not the language used.” He added: “Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said ‘take them out.’ Made up by Dems.”
Republican Senator Jeff Flake also contradicted Trump, tweeting that the words were “abhorrent and repulsive”. Two of Trump’s closest allies, Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue, said they did not recall the president making those specific comments. International leaders condemned the remarks, with Haiti summoning the US envoy and El Salvador lodging a diplomatic protest. The UN’s human rights spokesman called the comments “racist”.
At an event to honour Martin Luther King Jr, Trump decried racism, saying: “No matter what the colour of our skin or the place of our birth, we are all created equal.” He left without answering questions from reporters.
