President Donald Trump on Tuesday denigrated immigrants from “shithole countries,” reviving a comment he used during his first term in office that sparked criticism.
During a rally in Pennsylvania on affordability, Trump touted his administration’s decision to pause immigration from dozens of countries, including Somalia.
“I’ve also announced a permanent pause on Third World migration, including from hellholes like Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia and many other countries,” he said. Then, reflecting on his 2018 meeting with senators during which he referred to certain nations as “shithole countries,” Trump said, “Remember I said that to the senators?”
He said, “Our country was going to hell. And we had a meeting, and I say, ‘Why is it we only take people from shithole countries, right?’ Why can’t we have some people from Norway, Sweden, just a few? Let us have a few from Denmark. Do you mind sending us a few people? Do you mind?'”
Trump pointed specifically to Somali immigrants, questioning why the United States has so many immigrants from the African nation and so few from European nations.
“We always take people from Somalia, places that are a disaster, right?” the president told the audience in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. “Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime. The only thing they’re good at is going after ships.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement that, “President Trump is right. Aliens who come to our country, complain about how much they hate America, fail to contribute to our economy, and refuse to assimilate into our society should not be here.”
Trump faced backlash for his use of the term “shithole countries” during the 2018 meeting. At the time, the president denied using that term, saying that he used “tough” language, but that “this was not the language used.”
During that incident, the president was reportedly referring to Haiti and certain African nations, which led to leaders in Botswana condemning the remarks as “reprehensible and racist.”
For more than a week, Trump has disparaged Somali immigrants, particularly those in Minnesota.
Minnesota is “a hellhole right now. The Somalians should be out of here. They’ve destroyed our country. And all they do is complain, complain, complain,” he told reporters in the Oval Office last week.
Federal agents began conducting immigration operations in Minneapolis last week and, though one administration official told NBC News that ICE wasn’t specifically targeting Somali immigrants, Trump’s comments have had a chilling effect.
The president has also gone after Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., in particular. Omar immigrated to the U.S. when she was 12 after fleeing Somalia’s civil war.
At Tuesday night’s rally, the president called the congresswoman’s hijab a “turban” and encouraged the crowd to chant “send her back.”
“With the little shoe, the little turban, I love her. She comes in, does nothing but bitch. She’s always complaining,” he said.
In a post on X referencing the president’s Tuesday comments, Omar wrote, “Trump’s obsession with me is beyond weird. He needs serious help. Since he has no economic policies to tout, he’s resorting to regurgitating bigoted lies instead. He continues to be a national embarrassment.”
Elyse Perlmutter-Gumbiner, Maya Rosenberg and Tara Prindiville contributed.