Rep. Mia Love says President Trump’s comments calling majority-black nations ‘sh*thole countries’ are racist.
Love was asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper Sunday if she thought Trump’s vulgar comments were racist. After a pause, she replied “yes.”
From The Hill:
“I can’t defend the indefensible. There are countries that do struggle out there, but their people are good people. Their people are part of us. We’re Americans,” Love, the first Haitian-American elected to Congress, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Trump last week reportedly asked lawmakers why the U.S. was accepting so many immigrants from “shithole” countries like Haiti and African countries. He suggested the U.S. should instead should take in more immigrants from countries like Norway.
Asked on Sunday if she thought Trump’s comments were racist, Love hesitated before saying “yes.”
“I think at this point we can’t look to Washington, we can’t look to the president to tell us how to behave how to feel. We have to be respectful. We are responsible for who we are and how we behave,” Love said.
She also suggested that if a more diverse group of lawmakers were in the room at the time, Trump may not have made the same comments, pointing to backlash from other Republicans like Rep. Carlos Curbelo (Fla.)
“I don’t know if those comments would’ve been made if I were actually in the room. There are so many people that really care about this issue, Will Hurd, Carlos Curbelo, people on both sides of the aisle that should’ve been in that room talking about DACA,” Love said, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
