More Misinformation from the Media:
Long before Donald Trump referred to African nations as “s-hole countries” last week [at a White House meeting], he was well known to use bigoted language about immigrants who come from places he’d prefer they didn’t.
During his election campaign, he made sweeping generalization about Mexicans being rapists and bringers of crime, and tarred all Muslims as potential terrorists.
As president, he reportedly said Haitian immigrants “all have AIDs” and those from Nigeria would “never go back to their huts” (the White House denies he used those words). . . . Mr. Trump clearly views non-white people through a bigotted lens. His statement last week that he would prefer it if the U.S. brought in more immigrants from places like Norway, combined with the s-hole comment, are just two more nails in the coffin of his irrelevant claim that he is the “least racist that you’ll ever meet.”. . .
Mr. Trump has nothing more than his racist views to guide him as he as he tries to reform U.S immigration. – Globe Editorial: For Donald Trump, Immigration Is All About Race, The Globe and Mail, 1/16/18. [Link] [Ediitor’s Note: The Globe and Mail is a Canadian paper, but its commentary on U.S. issues makes it suitable for review and rebuttal.]
Fact Check: It is by no means proven that president used the vulgar term attributed to him. The president denied that he used it, as well as others present. They include Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and David Perdue (R-GA). The individual most strongly making the charge against Trump was Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)—who on at least one occasion in the past inaccurately reported on what was said at a White House meeting.
During the election campaign President Trump did not make a “sweeping generalization” that Mexicans were rapists. What he did was counter the sweeping generalization of the media that illegal aliens from Mexico are all wonderful, hard-working people. His point was that some among them are criminals who do harm to American citizens. And he never “tarred all Muslims as potential terrorists.”
The editorialists then go on to cite alleged quotes from Trump, which they admit are disputed. The purpose is to create a negative impression of the president—and they don’t really seem to care if firm documentation of those quotes isn’t available. This tactic falls far from the mark of responsible journalism.
Trump apparently did say that some countries are better sources of immigrants than others. And who can honestly deny this point? Terms like “s-hole” are inappropriate, but it is perfectly true to say that some countries are basically dysfunctional. To a large extent, they are that way because they have dysfunctional cultures. Large-scale immigration from those places presents a greater challenge to assimilation to our culture than immigration from other places.
The president suggested Norway as a country which might be preferred for immigrants. Immediately his critics, including the Globe and Mail editorialists, seized this statement as proof of Trump’s “bigotry”—presumably because Norway is a white country. More likely, though, the president was thinking of Norway because shortly before the White House meeting in question he had had a meeting with the Norwegian prime minister. Trump’s point was Norway’s success, not its race. Accusations of “racism” are the default position of mass immigration advocates in and out of the media. It reflects their lack of any substantial arguments.