WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) – President Donald Trump is defending himself anew against accusations that he is racist, this time after recent disparaging comments about Haiti and African nations.
“No, No. I’m not a racist,” Trump said Sunday, after reporters asked him to respond to those who think he is. “I am the least racist person you have ever interviewed. That I can tell you.”
Trump also denied making the statements attributed to him, but avoided the details of what he did or did not say.
“Did you see what various senators in the room said about my comments?” he asked, referring to lawmakers who were meeting with him in the Oval Office on Thursday when Trump is said to have made the comments. “They weren’t made.”
Trump stands accused of using “shithole” to describe African countries during an immigration meeting with a bipartisan group of six senators. The president, in the meeting, also questioned the need to admit more Haitians to the U.S., according to people who were briefed on the conversation but were not authorized to describe the meeting publicly.