So how and why is President Trump denying the remarks that he reportedly said?
I have some clarifying reporting from a source familiar the meeting. I want to start by saying that this does not make what he said any more acceptable, but it might shed some light on it all. 1/
I have some clarifying reporting from a source familiar the meeting. I want to start by saying that this does not make what he said any more acceptable, but it might shed some light on it all. 1/
The president did not refer to Haiti as a “shithole” country according to the source familiar with the meeting… though he DID say it about countries in Africa...
What happened, the source says, is there was a conflation of two different remarks by the president. 2/
What happened, the source says, is there was a conflation of two different remarks by the president. 2/
First, when talking about “temporary protected status” countries as part of the immigration deal it was mentioned that Salvadorans, Hondurans and Haitians have that status. 3/
“Haitians?” the president said. “Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out” —- meaning take them out of the deal.
4/
4/
Then in a separate part of the conversation when they were referencing the diversity visa lottery, President Trump referred to people coming from Africa as coming from “shithole countries.”
Again, I’m not saying this is better. Just that this is what happened, per my source. 5/
Again, I’m not saying this is better. Just that this is what happened, per my source. 5/
6/ So that might explain the kinda-pushback from POTUS today. -fin-
