Sen. Durbin confirms Trump’s “sh*thole” comment about African nations: pic.twitter.com/WAtzj2kWwM
— UPROXX News (@UPROXXNews) January 12, 2018
President Trump has spent the morning denying his “sh*thole countries” remark (about Haiti and African countries) while arguing that he simply used “tough” language. This sparked several hours of disgust and near-tears comments from CNN hosts, and while Fox News hosts first saw no problem, Fox and Friends‘ Brian Kilmeade characterized the statement as “a mistake … no question.” So, most folks assumed that Trump really did say this stuff, and now, a senator who was present during the meeting confirms that, yes, Trump absolutely said the word “sh*thole.” Here’s how Dick Durbin (D-IL) began:
“You’ve seen the comments in the press. I’ve not seen one of them that’s inaccurate. To no surprise, the president started tweeting this morning, denying that he used those words. It is not true. He said these hate-filled things, and he said them repeatedly.“
Durbin then confirmed the actual use of the word “sh*thole”:
“In the course of his comments, he said things which were hate-filled, vile, and racist … and he said, ‘Haitians … do we need more Haitians?’ And then he went on when he started to describe the immigration from Africa, calling the nations they come from ‘sh*tholes.’”
In addition, Deadline reports that a live CNN broadcast revealed how Trump spent much of Thursday night “phoning allies” to discuss how his “sh*thole remark” was being received by the press. As the kids say, what a world we live in. Watch Durbin’s full comments below.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6d0iti
UPDATE #1 – 1:30pm EST: The Post and Courier reports that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) labels “sh*thole” reports “basically” accurate. In reflection, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) calls the comment “incredibly disappointing.” Sen. Durbin also stated that Graham “spoke up” (and made an objection to Trump’s “phrasing”) during the meeting when Trump made the remark. Meanwhile, two other Republican senators, Tom Cotton (R-AR) and David Perdue (R-GA), do not recall the specific use of “sh*thole.”