Last year, President Donald Trump gave an ultimatum to North Korea’s President Kim Jong Un that if he did not cooperate with US dictates, the Asian leader and his people would “be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”
Since then a book titled “Fire And Fury” by former Trump insider Michael Wolf has disrupted daily operations in the White House causing revelations, speculations and at least one high profile dismissal from a major Republican media house.
Now with denigrating statements about Haitians and Africans, responses to President Trump’s callous comments have been fast, fiery, furious and probably prompted the leader to stifle the words he openly presented during a meeting about immigration at the Oval Office.
“I never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very troubled and poor country,” Trump backtracked.
Initially, reports were that offensive statements by the president on the eve of the eight anniversary of a devastating earthquake in Haiti, maligned the Caribbean nation as well as the continent of Africa describing them as ‘s…hole” locations.
“What do we want Haitians here for?”
“Why do we want all these people from Africa here?
“Why do we want all these people from s…hole countries?”
“Your mouth is the foulest s…hole in the world,” Vicente Fox, a former president of Mexico wrote referencing Trump.
“With what authority do you proclaim who’s welcome in America and who’s not. America’s greatness is built on diversity, or have you forgotten your immigrant background, Donald?
Even more insulting were allegations that the leader said that Haitians “all have AIDS” and that Nigerian immigrants would never “go back to their huts” if allowed into America.
Condemnation from world organizations, presidents and prime ministers, politicians and influential Americans rained down on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. forcing the businessman-turned-politician to issue a statement saying “the language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but was not the language” he is being rebuked for using.
The 15-member Caribbean Community group issued a statement saying “CARICOM is deeply disturbed by reports about the use of derogatory and repulsive language by the president of the United States in respect of our member state, Haiti, and other developing countries.”
“CARICOM condemns in the strongest terms, the unenlightened views reportedly expressed.”
The united bloc of regional Caribbean countries which includes former British, Dutch and French colonies expressed disdain to what they described to be “highly offensive reference.”
“It should be recalled that Haiti is the second democracy in the Western hemisphere after the United States and that Haitians continue to contribute significantly in many spheres to the global community and particularly to the United States of America.”
Reputed for being the first Caribbean nation to revolt against slavery, Haitians are also acclaimed for helping Americans achieve independence.
Paul G. Altidor, Haiti’s ambassador to the United States condemned the statement and said his country has asked for an explanation of Trump’s comments from U.S. officials.
“In the spirit of the people of Haiti we feel in the statements, if they were made, the president was either misinformed or miseducated about Haiti and its people.”
It can only be described as “racist.”
Haiti and its people are “deeply shocked and outraged.”
The Haitian government issued a statement saying: “these insulting and reprehensible statements in no way reflect the virtues of wisdom, restraint and discernment that must be cultivated by any high political authority.”
It “reflects a totally erroneous and racist view of the Haitian community and its contribution to the United States.”
Rupert Colville, the United Nations human rights spokesman slammed the comments calling them “racist.”
“There is no other word one can use but ‘racist,’ ” he said at a briefing in Geneva. “You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as ‘s…holes,’ whose entire populations, who are not white, are therefore not welcome.”
A senior European Union lawmaker said President Trump “has forgotten to engage his brain before talking” about immigrants and is not fit for office.
Socialist group President Gianni Pittella said that after insulting Mexicans and Muslims “now it is Haiti, El Salvador and African people being targeted by the U.S. president’s delirious and racist words.”
Pittella added that “every passing day, Trump proves not to be fit to run the U.S. and lead the international community. Insulting, bullying, threatening is the only language Trump knows. It is no longer tolerable.”
“The African Union Commission is frankly alarmed at statements by the president of the United States when referring to migrants of African countries and others in such contemptuous terms,” Ebba Kalondo, the spokeswoman for the African Union said.
“Considering the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the U.S. during the Atlantic slave trade, this flies in the face of all accepted behavior and practice.”
Jesse Duarte, deputy secretary general of the African National Congress told reporters that developing countries do have difficulties but that the United States itself has millions of people out of work or without health care.
She said that “we would not deign to make comments as derogatory” as Trump’s.
“Casual Friday at the White House is soon to include hoods and tiki torches at this rate,” South African media outlet Daily Maverick stated.
According to a French government spokesman “silence” is preferable to any reaction in response to PresidentTrump’s vulgar comments on immigrants from African nations and Haiti.
Benjamin Grivaux told reporters after a weekly Cabinet meeting “it’s obviously not advisable” to speak the way Trump “reportedly” spoke when he asked why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and “s..thole countries” in Africa rather than places like Norway.
Grivaux says that “we must keep a correct language especially when we speak about countries that sometimes suffered from bad weather, a great poverty and that are in a great distress.”
“Donald Trump is an unstable character who would critique his own image if it was doubled,” Marlyatou Sow, a 32-year-old student in Guinea said.
His comments show “that he doesn’t have a heightened vision and that he is nothing less than a businessman who arrived at the White House purely by chance.”
Georgia Congressman John Lewis said in light of the controversy he will boycott the president’s State of the Union address on Jan. 30.
The state representative who has been arrested 40 times for protesting and civil disobedience, beaten by police for exercising that right and has been a thorn in the sides of racists made the announcement the following day on the eve of the weekend marking the 89th birthday anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who he marched with enumerable times and shared the same jail cell.
Since the blowback, the president has denied uttering anything derogatory or denigrating about the African nations. His schizophrenic behavior is not unusual. It repeats with inflammatory statements which he often denies whenever his Twitter account irks Americans opposed to his base.
As if his statement was not already racist, Trump added fuel to the fire and fury by suggesting that other than Haitians and Africans, immigrants from predominantly Caucasian countries would be welcomed.
“We should have people from places like Norway,” he said as if punctuating his “Make America Great Again” campaign mantra.
His comments came following a meeting the previous day with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg.
Norwegians on social media questioned the attractiveness of immigrating to a country without free health care, paid parental leave or gun control.
“I’m a Norwegian who enjoyed studying and working in the U.S. The only thing that would attract me to emigrate to the U.S. is your vibrant multicultural society. Don’t take that away,” tweeted Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Hilde Restad, a university associate professor in international studies, said Trump has achieved the unlikely feat of praising Norway while still offending its citizens.
She said that “Norwegians in general have such a minority complex that as long as we are noticed we get very excited. But in general we are not wanting to be flattered by this U.S. president in this way.”
Republican pollster Frank Luntz quoted a report which stated that 43 percent of immigrants from African countries have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 33 percent of the U.S. population overall.
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