Why no one should believe Trump's 'shithole countries' denial Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large
Updated 12:22 PM ET, Fri January 12, 2018
(CNN)On Friday morning, 15 hours after it was first reported that Donald Trump had referred to various sovereign nations as "shithole countries," the President took to Twitter to deny it.
"The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used," he tweeted. "What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!" Minutes later, Trump added: "Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said 'take them out.' Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings - unfortunately, no trust!"
CNN's Jake Tapper has reported that Trump did not specifically use the word "shithole" with regard to Haiti but rather with regard to countries in Africa.
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat who was in the Oval Office on Thursday for the now-infamous immigration meeting, spoke out publicly Friday morning to insist that the reporting of what Trump said (and about whom) was entirely accurate.
Sen. Durbin: Trump said those hateful things 02:17
"You've seen the comments in the press," Durbin said at an event in Chicago. "I've not read one of them that's inaccurate. To no surprise, the President started tweeting this morning, denying that he used those words. It is not true."
So, here we are. Who do we believe: the President of the United States or a sitting Democratic senator -- and loads of media outlets (including CNN) that have confirmed that Trump used the word "shithole" to describe certain countries that were sending immigrants to the US?
We are now certain to see the disagreement play out.
The problem here for Trump is that he has a massive -- the biggest! -- credibility problem of his own making.
Trump denies making 'shithole countries' comment
By The Washington Post's count, Trump has made more than 2,000 false or misleading statements since being sworn in as President. That's more than five lies or distortions a day -- ranging from his insistence that he had the biggest inauguration crowed ever (he didn't) to his oft-repeated claim that the US is the highest-taxed nation in the world (it isn't) to his insistence that he ended Obamacare (he didn't).
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Poster Comment:
The President should know that everything he says or does in under a microscope. Now the crooked MSM is trying to make him out as a liar. Please Mr. President, do not allow them to equate you to Richard Nixon when he said, "I am not a crook."