President Trump is drawing an angry response, after using an expletive to describe the countries that many immigrants in the U.S. came from. One critic is Republican congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, who says Trump has a long history of making racist statements. (Jan. 12) AP
Anderson Cooper and other celebrities condemned President Trump on Thursday following comments he reportedly made questioning why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and other "shithole countries" in Africa rather than places like Norway.
On CNN Thursday, Anderson Cooper called the President's comments "racist" in an emotional segment. Cooper said the people of Haiti, who were granted temporary legal status, following a devastating 2010 earthquake, "have been through more, withstood more, fought back against more injustice... than our President ever has."
In November, the Trump administration ended the temporary legal status protections for Haitians, giving them until July 2019 to gain a different, legal immigration status or leave.
"Let's not kid ourselves. Let's not pretend our dance around it," he said. "The sentiment the president expressed today is a racist sentiment."
Other celebrities, including John Legend, slammed the president on Twitter.
"The president is racist. He has been for his entire public life," Legend tweeted.
Ben Stiller posted several tweets about the resilience of the Haitian people.
The Washington Postreported that Trump made the divisive comments during a meeting on immigration in the Oval Office.
President Trump tweeted Friday, appearing to deny using the vulgar term to describe Haiti, El Salvador and African countries.
More: Trump appears to deny using vulgar term to describe immigrant countries after backlash
More: Temporary protected status: Why Haitians are being kicked out
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