On Sunday, Donald Trump responded to reporters’ questions about his alleged “sh*thole countries” comment last Thursday, and whether or not he was a racist. “No, I am not a racist,” he said. “I am the least racist person you have ever interviewed.” The president initially admitted to expressing this sentiment, but then walked it back in a string of tweets. Even so, his most ardent supporters have stuck to him despite the disparaging remarks, which were supposedly made about Haiti and other African countries during a heated Oval Office meeting about DACA and immigration.
If Trump’s claim here sounds familiar, that’s because he has made it before (while facing similar accusations of racism). During the early days of the 2016 presidential election, the outiser GOP candidate turned heads when he first called for a ban on Muslim entry to the United States. The was preceded by his “rapists” comments about Mexico, which he subsequently doubled down on during an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon. In a followup appearance on Lemon’s program, Trump exclaimed, “I am the least racist person you’ve ever met.” “I am the least racist person,” he added, noting his “certain street sense” as a defense.
Trump’s prior “least racist person” claim is still available to view on CNN’s YouTube page.
(Via CNN and Washington Post)