MSNBC’s Eugene Robinson called the United States “the shithole country that nobody wants people from” during an appearance Tuesday on “Morning Joe.”
The comments from the longtime Washington Post columnist came during a panel discussion about the coronavirus pandemic.
“Did you ever think, Gene, in all of your years, that the United States of America would be in such a poor condition, a Third World condition when it came to health care and the government’s handling of a pandemic, that we wouldn’t be able to go to other countries?” co-host Joe Scarborough, a staunch critic of President Trump, asked Robinson.
“It’s just appalling, and shocking, really, that we’re in this position. But this is where we are. We are pariahs. We are, we are the shithole country that nobody wants people from. That’s us now.”
Robinson was referencing a Washington Post article from November 2018 about Trump allegedly referring to immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti and some African nations as coming from “shithole countries” while advocating for more immigration from countries like Norway.
Robinson’s most recent column mentions how the “developed world must see us as one of those ‘shithole countries’ that Trump famously disdained.”
“Donald Trump’s ignorance of history, Donald Trump’s ignorance of medicine, Donald Trump’s ignorance of epidemiology, Donald Trump’s refusal to listen to his experts have put us in this position,” Scarborough said Tuesday.
Among the 20 countries most affected by COVID-19, the U.S. has the fourth-highest number of deaths per 100,000 people, ranking behind only the United Kingdom, Peru and Chile.
The European Union put initial restrictions on travelers from the U.S. when the EU reopened in July.