April Ryan presses Trump: ‘Mr. President, are you a racist?’
White House correspondent cuts right to chase on Trump's 'shithole' statements
White House correspondent cuts right to chase on Trump's 'shithole' statements
While reporters tried to press President Donald Trump over his racist “shithole” comment, White House correspondent April Ryan cut straight to the chase.
“Mr. President, are you a racist,” Ryan asked Trump during a White House press event for the president’s signing of a MLK Day proclamation.
Naturally, Trump pretended not to hear Ryan’s questions, among others being shouted as he shook hands with African-American attendees present at the signing.
Ryan also asked Trump if he would like to give an apology for his statements made about immigrants from Haiti and other African nations.
“Mr. President, will you give an apology for the statement yesterday?”
“Mr President, did you refer to African nations as shitholes?
“Mr President, are you a racist?” – @AprilDRyan cuts to the chase. pic.twitter.com/mktAFtvmMn
— Ernest Owens (@MrErnestOwens) January 12, 2018
‘Shithole countries’
In a meeting on immigration on Thursday, President Donald Trump used damning language in reference to immigrants from Africa, Haiti and other “shithole countries.”
“Why do we want all these people from ‘shithole countries’ coming here?” Trump told a bipartisan group of senators in the Oval Office, according to CNN.
The president’s comment was made during a meeting with six senators hoping to come to a compromise on immigration.
After Sen. Dick Durbin proposed to end the visa lottery in exchange for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for countries like El Salvador, Trump reportedly interrupted him when Durbin got to Haiti.
Trump went on to ask why the US would want more people from Haiti and African countries, rather than countries like Norway. The president also asked if Haiti could be left out of the plan, reports the New York Times, “Why do we want people from Haiti here?”
Trump’s infamous AIDS comment
Of course, Trump’s shocking comments are rather consistent with his past statements on immigrants, particularly from Haiti.
In December, he reportedly said that “all Haitians have AIDS” and made derogatory comments about the way Nigerians live.
Upon entering the Oval Office, sources said the president lashed out at his national security team during a White House meeting shortly after his inaguration. Trump grumbled about the number of immigrants who had entered the country since he took office.
The new leader of the free world claimed it made him look like a fool; one of his key campaign promises was to lower the number of immigrants coming into the country.
In response to the 15,000 Haitian immigrants who had arrived in the country, Trump reportedly said they “all have AIDS.” He went on to lament about the 40,000 Nigerians who would never “go back to their huts” in Africa.
