The White House staunchly denied reports Donald Trump made derogatory comments about immigrants entering the country during a June meeting with top officials.
According to a New York Times report released Saturday (Dec, 23) two unnamed officials recall hearing the president say people traveling from Haiti “all have AIDS.” The disparaging comments were not just aimed at Haitians, Trump reportedly also said Nigerians would never “go back to their huts” in Africa and that Afghanistan is a terrorist haven.
Press Secretary Sarah Sanders released a statement blasting the Times, and poking holes in their unnamed sources.
“General Kelly, General McMaster, Secretary Tillerson, Secretary Nielsen, and all other senior staff actually in the meeting deny these outrageous claims and it’s both sad and telling the New York Times would print the lies of their anonymous ‘sources’ anyway,” Sanders said.
The report stated former Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, White House adviser Stephen Miller and other officials provided the president with a list of of how many immigrants received visas to enter the country in 2017.
The Times report continued by stating they tried to explain to the president the visas were for short-term visits, however the meeting became contentious when Kelly and Miller “turned their ire” against Tillerson who then threw his arms up and suggested he should stop issuing visas all together.
The Times story comes after three weeks of reporting and nearly a dozen interviews. The explosive remarks about immigrants which allegedly came from the president were sourced from two officials. One who claims to have been in the room and the other who was reportedly briefed about the comment afterwards.