Hillary Clinton accused President Trump of holding “ignorant, racist views” on Friday, after media reports surfaced that the president decried immigration from “shithole countries” like Haiti, El Salvador and African nations.
In a tweet, Clinton denounced Trump’s remarks, which were made in a private meeting with lawmakers on Thursday, saying that Friday should be a day of remembrance for the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Instead, she said, the country has been subjected to Trump’s ire.
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The tweet from Clinton, who fought bitterly with Trump in the 2016 presidential race, came a day after reports surfaced that Trump demanded to know why the U.S. admits so many immigrants from “shithole countries,” like Haiti, El Salvador and several in Africa.
The remarks, which where confirmed by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), came in an Oval Office meeting with lawmakers on immigration reform. Trump allegedly questioned why the U.S. doesn’t admit more immigrants from countries like Norway, whose prime minister visited the White House this week.
Trump denied in a pair of tweets on Friday that he made the comment, but referred to Haiti as a “very poor and troubled country.”
The U.S. granted temporary protected status (TPS) to Haitians after the earthquake. The Trump administration moved in November to end that program for residents of the island nation.