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Saturday 13 January 2018
'There's no other word but racist': Trump faces global rebuke for remark
US diplomats around the world were summoned for formal reproach, amid
global shock over Trump calling African nations, Haiti and El Salvador
‘shitholes’
Trump suggested the US should bring more immigrants from Norway, not ‘shithole countries’.
Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Donald Trump has been branded a shocking and shameful racist after it was credibly reported he had described African nations, as well as Haiti and El Salvador as “shitholes” and questioned why so many of their citizens had ever been permitted to enter America.
US diplomats around the world were summoned for formal reproach, amid
global shock that such crude remarks could ever be made in a
semi-public meeting by the president of America.
In a strongly-worded statement, the UN said it was impossible to
describe his remarks as anything other than racist, while the Vatican
decried Trump’s words as “particularly harsh and offensive”.
Trump initially allowed reported accounts of his comments to go
unchallenged, but went into damage limitation mode on Friday, insisting
he had not used derogatory words – but admitting that the language he
had used at a meeting with Senators on immigration was “tough”.
But the democratic senator Dick Durbin – who was present at the
meeting with Trump on Thursday – insisted that the reports were entirely
accurate.
He said “those hate-filled things and did so repeatedly”.
“Shithole was the exact word used once not twice but repeatedly,”
Durbin said, adding that the word was specifically used in the context
of African countries.
The UN human rights spokesman, Rupert Colville, told a Geneva news
briefing: “There is no other word one can use but racist. You cannot
dismiss entire countries and continents as ‘shitholes’, whose entire
populations, who are not white, are therefore not welcome.”
Trump's 'shithole countries' remark is racist, says UN - video
Salvador Sánchez, the president of El Salvador, said Trump’s words had “struck at the dignity of Salvadorans”.
“El Salvador formally protests and energetically rejects this kind of comment,” Sánchez wrote on Twitter.
US diplomats and the US embassy in San Salvador sought to assure
those in El Salvador of their respect for the country. Jean Manes, the
US envoy to El Salvador, tweeted in Spanish: “I have had the privilege
to travel around this beautiful country and meet thousands of
Salvadorans. It is an honour to live and work here. We remain 100%
committed.”
Robin Diallo, the US chargé d’affaires to Haiti,
was summoned to meet the Haitian president, Jovenel Moïse, to discuss
the remarks. The former Haitian president Laurent Lamothe expressed his
dismay, saying Trump had shown “a lack of respect and ignorance”.
Across Africa
there was diplomatic fury. Botswana’s government called Trump’s comment
“reprehensible and racist” and said the US ambassador had been summoned
to clarify whether the nation was regarded as a “shithole” country
after years of cordial relations. Uganda’s state minister for
international relations, Henry Okello Oryem, called the remarks
“unfortunate and regrettable”.
The African Union
said it was alarmed by Trump’s language. “Given the historical reality
of how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, this
statement flies in the face of all accepted behaviour and practice,” its
spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo told Associated Press.
“This is particularly surprising as the United States of America
remains a global example of how migration gave birth to a nation built
on strong values of diversity and opportunity.”
Jessie Duarte, the deputy secretary general of South Africa’s ruling
ANC, said: “Ours is not a shithole country; neither is Haiti or any
other country in distress. It’s not as if the United States doesn’t have
problems. There is unemployment in the US, there are people who don’t
have healthcare services.”
The leader of South Africa’s main opposition party, Mmusi Maimane, described the comments as “abhorrent”. She tweeted of Trump:
The comments referred to here are abhorrent. He confirms a patronizing view of Africa and promotes a racist agenda. Africa/US relations will take strain from this, with a leader who has failed to reconcile humanity. The hatred of Obama’s roots now extends to an entire continent https://twitter.com/cnn/status/951751986071957505 …
The US state department tried to pour water on the flames, issuing a
tweet from its Bureau of African Affairs saying that “the United States
will continue to robustly, enthusiastically and forcefully engage in
#Africa, promoting this vital relationship”.
Mexico’s former president, Vicente Fox, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump, said in a colourful tweet
that “America’s greatness was built on diversity”. He added Trump’s
mouth was “the foulest shithole in the world. With what authority do you
announce who is welcome in America and who is not? America’s greatness
is based on diversity, or have you forgotten your migration background,
Donald?”
David Miliband, the president of the International Rescue Committee, said Trump’s comments were leading a “race to the bottom on refugees”.
Trump has made few references to Africa since his election, and many
senior Africa-focused posts in his administration remain unfilled.
In September, he appeared to invent a new country called Nambia while
addressing African leaders in Washington. Trump also told them: “I have
so many friends going to your countries, trying to get rich. It has a
tremendous business potential.”
The US government’s Africa Media Hub made an effort to limit the diplomatic damage of the president’s words.
Without directly referring to Trump’s statement, a tweet said the “US
remains committed to working together w/Africans to realize the promise
of a more peaceful, more productive, more prosperous 21st century
Africa. US deeply respects the people of #Africa & values its
partnerships with them.”
Boniface Mwangi, a well-known social activist in Kenya tweeted:
Africa isn’t a shithole. It’s the most beautiful continent in the world. Beautiful,hardworking people. We have diamonds, gold, iron, cobalt, uranium, copper, bauxite, silver, petroleum, cocoa, coffee, tea etc. Sadly we have #shithole leaders like Trump shitting on us everyday. pic.twitter.com/Vv4Wgtq4Pk
Standing at a coffee stall outside an office block in Rosebank, a
commercial and business neighbourhood in central Johannesburg, Blessing
Dlamini, a 45-year-old administrative assistant, said Trump’s words came
as “no surprise”.
“He has shown the world he is a racist. We should just block him from our thoughts,” Dlamini said.
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