On Thursday, reports came out asserting that earlier in the day, the president had referred to countries including El Salvador, Haiti, and some African nations as “shithole countries.” The alleged comments came in the context of a discussion on immigration policy, with a pair of U.S. Senators having suggested an immigration policy reform plan favoring prospective immigrants from the aforementioned areas before Trump reportedly questioned why the U.S. should take in people from such areas.
When pressed, the White House declined on Thursday to even deny that the president had said such a thing, although on Friday morning, the president posted a halfhearted denial of the reports on Twitter, writing;
‘The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used.’
In the fallout from the reported comments, sources revealed past instances of repugnant behavior on the part of the president to NBC, which make it not that far fetched to suggest that he said what is alleged, including an instance when he expressed apparent surprise that an African American Congressperson would represent a constituency including people besides African Americans.
During that same meeting, a member relayed to Trump that potential welfare cuts would harm her constituents, “not all of whom are black.” The president replied, “Really? Then what are they?” https://t.co/B1xtyNQSiK
— Yeganeh Torbati (@yjtorbati) January 12, 2018
A selection of the racist displays reported upon by NBC were connected to a March 2017 meeting between the president and the Congressional Black Caucus. During that meeting, Trump essentially revealed that in his head he still lives in the era of segregation.
He asked the assembled Congresspeople at one point if any of them knew his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, who is the only African American member of Trump’s Cabinet. He reportedly did not ask if the Congresspeople knew any of his other Cabinet members.
The Congresspeople relayed to the president that no, they did not know Carson, who had never served in government before.
As NBC reports of that same meeting:
‘During that same meeting, a member relayed to Trump that potential welfare cuts would harm her constituents, “not all of whom are black.” The president replied: “Really? Then what are they?”‘
Remember — this is the man who is expected to be competent enough to lead the United States through whatever turmoil may affect it during his four years in office.
In the same NBC report, the network revealed another instance of volatile racism on the part of the president, with him having questioned why a “pretty Korean lady” working as an intelligence analyst who had at the time just briefed him on the then-pending release of hostages in Pakistan wasn’t working on U.S./ North Korea relations.
If there’s one thing that the president got right in that situation, it’s that he needs help in dealing with the threat of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. His belligerent actions have routinely been used by the country as a justification for continuing to increase their firepower.
Additionally, it’s not as though it’s only reports about private comments that paint the president as a racist.
It was in full view of the nation and world, for instance, that at an event honoring Native American veterans of World War II, he used a racial slur.
Featured Image via The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images
