‘Shocked’ Haiti calls Trump’s reported remarks ‘racist’
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — Haiti’s government on Friday condemned US President Donald Trump’s reported remarks about its people as “racist.”
“The government of the Republic of Haiti is profoundly outraged and shocked by the tenor of the remarks, not officially denied,” it said in a statement, adding the comments reported by US media “at a minimum are disrespectful and insulting.”
“The Haitian government condemns with the greatest firmness these odious and abject remarks which, if they were said, would in every respect be unacceptable because they reflect a simplistic and totally wrong racist vision of the Haitian community and its contributions to the United States of America,” the statement said.
Trump was reported to have referred to Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as “s…hole countries” during a White House meeting with lawmakers on immigration reform.
“Why do we need more Haitians?” the Washington Post quoted him as saying, citing people briefed on the meeting. “Take them out.”
In a tweet Friday, Trump denied making the “take them out” remark. But a US senator present at the meeting said the president repeatedly called the countries “s…holes.”
