Botswana wants to know if Trump considers it a “s***hole country” as it joins UN in condemning President’s “racist’ language
Botswana has summoned the US ambassador to ask whether the African nation is one of the “shithole countries” referred to by Donald Trump .
The US President reportedly used that term during a meeting in reference to people from Africa and Haiti , according to CNN.
“‘Why do we want these people from all these shithole countries here? We should have more people from places like Norway,” he is reported to have said.
He has since claimed he did not use those specific words.
“The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made – a big setback for DACA!” he tweeted today.
However in a statement this morning, the government of Botswana said his comments were “highly irresponsible, reprehensible and racist”.
The statement added that it had asked the US government to “clarify if Botswana is regarded as a “shithole” country given that there are Botswana nationals residing in the US, and also that some of Botswana may wish to visit the US.
“The Government of Botswana is wondering why President Trump, must use this descriptor and derogatory word, when talking about countries with whom the US has had cordial and mutually beneficial bilateral relations for so many years.”
The language has also been condemned by the UN, with spokesman Rupert Colville telling reporters: “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 has also upset the apple cart here in the UK, by refusing to make a trip to London to open the new embassy, claiming he doesn’t like the new location, and blaming his predecessor for making a bad deal. But as this article points out, there was a very good reason for the move – which was organised by George W Bush, not Barack Obama.