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Maddowblog-Why Trump's unsubtle reversal on his 's--hole countries' comment matters
In 2018, the president denied using the racist language. In 2025, he seems to take a degree of pride in using the phrase.
Why Trump’s unsubtle reversal on his ‘s---hole countries’ comment matters - MS NOW
— (@oc88.bsky.social) 2025-12-10T17:29:11.946Z
apple.news/A5fl9dEOxQ8S...
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/why-trumps-unsubtle-reversal-on-his-s-hole-countries-comment-matters
Eight years later, the Republican’s private racism has become his public racism. The New York Times reported on Trump’s Tuesday night speech in Pennsylvania:
....Describing the 2018 White House meeting, the president told rally attendees, “We want to be honest, because our country was going to hell, and we had a meeting and I say, ‘Why is it we only take people from s–––hole 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? Send us some nice people, do you mind?”
The message wasn’t exactly subtle: Trump is fine with immigration, so long as it’s white people coming to American soil......
His remarks came a week after he referred to Somali immigrants as “garbage.” A New York Times report described it “an outburst that captured the raw nativism that has animated his approach to immigration,” adding that the president’s condemnation “was shocking in its unapologetic bigotry.”
A week later, the brazenness of Trump’s racism was apparent once more.
Soon after, a member of the crowd yelled out a crude term that Mr. Trump used during his first administration to disparage Haiti and some nations in Africa. The president laughed.
‘I didn’t say ‘s–––hole,’ you did!’ Mr. Trump replied with a grin. He then recounted his use of the term at a White House meeting in 2018 to describe countries that he was balking at accepting immigrants from.
....Describing the 2018 White House meeting, the president told rally attendees, “We want to be honest, because our country was going to hell, and we had a meeting and I say, ‘Why is it we only take people from s–––hole 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? Send us some nice people, do you mind?”
Trump: "I've also announced a permanent pause on 3rd world migration, including from hellholes like Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia, and many other countries. I didn't say shit hole, you did. I said that to the senators, the Democrats, so they came in and they said this is totally off the record .... "
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-12-10T01:40:26.476Z
The message wasn’t exactly subtle: Trump is fine with immigration, so long as it’s white people coming to American soil......
His remarks came a week after he referred to Somali immigrants as “garbage.” A New York Times report described it “an outburst that captured the raw nativism that has animated his approach to immigration,” adding that the president’s condemnation “was shocking in its unapologetic bigotry.”
A week later, the brazenness of Trump’s racism was apparent once more.