Republican Rep. Mia Love (Utah) on Thursday called for President Trump to apologize for those he “wantonly maligned” in his reported comments about immigrants from “shithole countries.”
Love, who was born to Haitian parents, said the president’s comments about those from Haiti and African countries were “unkind, divisive, elitist and fly in the face of our nation’s values.”
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“My parents came from one of those countries, took an oath of allegiance to it, and took on the responsibilities of everything that being a citizen comes with,” she said in a statement.
“The President must apologize to both the American people and the nations he so wantonly maligned,” Love said.
Trump bemoaned restoring protected status for immigrants from “shithole countries” such as Haiti, El Salvador and African countries in an Oval Office meeting Thursday with lawmakers, The Washington Post and other media outlets reported.
Trump reportedly suggested the U.S. should take in more immigrants from countries such as Norway, the prime minister of which Trump met with on Wednesday.
The White House issued a statement Thursday night that did not deny that Trump referred to immigrants coming from “shithole” countries.
“Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people,” White House spokesperson Raj Shah said in the statement.