Sen. Durbin Says President Trump Said 'Hate-Filled Things'
WASHINGTON (AP) - A senator who was present at a White House immigration meeting says President Donald Trump indeed used vulgar language to describe African countries, saying he "said these hate filled things and he said them repeatedly."
Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, told reporters that Trump questioned why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and that he used the crude term that's been attributed to him -- in fact, that he used the word "repeatedly."
Durbin said "sh*tholes" was "the exact word used by the president not just once but repeatedly."
Durbin added, "When the question was asked about Haitians ... he said, 'Hatians? Do we need more Hatians?'"
President Donald Trump is insisting he "never said anything derogatory about Haitians."
Trump is reacting on Twitter Friday, after news outlets reported that he asked in a closed-door meeting why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and in Africa -- referring to those countries with a crude term -- rather than places like Norway.
Trump tweets: "Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country."
Haiti says it is "deeply shocked and outraged" by President Donald Trump's reported vulgar remark on migration calling it "racist."
The Haitian government says in a statement that "these insulting and reprehensible statements in no way reflect the virtues of wisdom, restraint and discernment that must be cultivated by any high political authority."
It adds that the comment as reported "reflects a totally erroneous and racist view of the Haitian community and its contribution to the United States."
On Thursday Trump questioned why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and "sh*thole countries" in Africa.
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