Last week, in yet another chapter of “Can the president be any worse?” we were greeted with the same hateful rhetoric that President Donald Trump has issued since his campaign. During a meeting at the White House Jan. 11, Trump allegedly balked at an immigration deal that would protect Haiti, El Salvador and African countries. The emerging deal would give legal status to immigrants who were illegally brought to the United States as children.
But this was far from a celebratory moment for the president. Instead, sources from the meeting contend that Trump asked why he should accept immigrants from “shithole” countries.
Others said Trump continued to denounce Haiti.
“Why do we need more Haitians?” he allegedly said. “Take them out.”
Trump took to Twitter (surprise!) to deny these allegations.
“Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country,” he tweeted. “Never said ‘take them out.’ Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings – unfortunately, no trust!”
Others in attendance at the meeting have taken varying stances. This includes completely denying these “shithole” remarks; saying that Trump actually said “shithouse;” and that they “don’t remember.”
According to Time, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has denied Trump’s use of the term while also seeming to excuse this language.
“No one here is going to pretend like the president is always politically correct. He isn’t. I think that’s one of the reasons the American people love him.”
She added that one of the reasons he was elected is because he’s not a “scripted robot.”
“He’s somebody who tells things like they are sometimes, and sometimes he does use tough language,” Sanders said.
But if he did not make these comments, why excuse it?
While we may never know what actually went down at that meeting, these excuses have made one thing clear: They are excuses.
We have seen Trump repeatedly create a hateful rhetoric in our own homes. It should come as no surprise that this has extended to his own colleagues. People in his office may laugh off his comments or make it a part of their everyday routine. And if that’s the case, we’d better make sure those colleagues are gone from the White House.