New Yorkers will mark Reverent Martin Luther King Day with a rally later in Times Square to protest the utterances and immigration policies of United States President Donald Trump.
The rally comes in the wake of an international outcry after the President was accused of making derogatory comments about immigrants from certain parts of the world, including Haiti and Africa.
While South Africa has summoned the top US official in the country to explain the “Shithole” remarks, there has been pushback from two Republican senators who say President Trump never made the remarks to begin with.
Two Republican Senators who were in the immigration meeting where the words “Shithole” are alleged to have been uttered, initially on Friday released a statement saying they did not recall Trump’s derogatory reference to certain countries, but by Sunday were pushing back more forcefully saying the allegations were a gross misrepresentation of his remarks despite other Senators in the room, including another Republican, Senator Lindsey Graham, confirming that he did in fact say what has been reported.
His alleged comments were first reported by the Washington Post and confirmed by Democratic Senator Dick Durbin who was in the room.
Senator Graham made his presentation. “The president interrupted him several times with questions and in the course of his comments, he said things which were hate-filled, racist, and I use those words advisedly. I understand how powerful they are.”
“But, I cannot believe that in the history of the White House, in that Oval office, any president has ever spoken the words I personally heard our president speak yesterday.”
“You’ve seen the comments in the press. I have not read one of them that are inaccurate. To no surprise the president started tweeting this morning denying that he used those words. It is not true. He said these hate-filled things. And he said them repeatedly.”
The African Union was quick to condemn the remarks while the United Nations called them shocking and shameful.
Spokesperson for High Commissioner for Human Rights Rupert Colville says: “This is not just a story about vulgar language; it is about opening the door wider to humanity’s worst side, about validating and encouraging racism and xenophobia that will potentially disrupt and destroy the lives of many people. This is perhaps the single most damaging and dangerous consequence of this type of comment by a major political figure.”
Londoners, meanwhile, have welcome President Trump’s cancelation of a visit to the United Kingdom later in 2018.
And with Monday being a federal holiday to mark Reverent Martin Luther King Day, protests are expected around the country, including in New York, on the presidents recent comments and his broader immigration policies, actions on the streets that have become a familiar sight since the day President Trump beat Hillary Clinton last November.
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