The White House has rebuked claims that President Donald Trump said that all Haitians “have AIDS”.
Rumours of the comments, which were allegedly made in a private Oval Office meeting in June, came out yesterday (December 23).
The meeting was with six other senior staffers, including former secretary of homeland John F. Kelly, secretary of state Rex W. Tillerson and the White House chief of staff.
Trump read from a document, which was provided by domestic policy advisor Stephen Miller, about immigration.
The document complained about the high level of immigration and noted that at least 15,000 had come from Haiti.
This fact reportedly spurred Trump to accuse all 15,000 Haitians of having AIDS.
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The president also seethed over Afghanistan immigrant numbers and reportedly called the country a “terrorist heaven”.
He also made offensive comments about Nigerian immigrants by stating that once they had seen the US they would never “go back toothier huts” in Africa.
The White House has since denied the claims, which were uncovered by The New York Times, and insisted that Trump would never use the words ‘AIDS’ or ‘huts’ to describe people from other countries.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: “General Kelly, General McMaster, Secretary Tillerson, Secretary Nielsen and all other senior staff actually in the meeting deny these outrageous claims.
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“It’s both sad and telling The New York Times would print the lies of their anonymous ‘sources’ anyway.”
The comments have been condemned by pro-immigration activists.
Frank Sherry, the executive director for pro-immigration group America’s Voice said that racism was clearly rooted in Trump’s immigration agenda.
“He’s basically saying, ‘You people of colour coming to America seeking the American dream are a threat to the white people.
“He’s come into office with an aggressive strategy of trying to reverse the demographic changes underway in America,” Sharry said.