Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Sunday bristled at the notion that her boss, President Donald Trump, is racist.
“I take a little offense to allegations that the president is racist,” Nielsen said during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”
Trump sparked a firestorm of criticism this week when he reportedly questioned why the U.S. accepted immigrants from “shithole countries” in Africa as well as from Haiti and El Salvador during an immigration reform meeting with lawmakers at the White House. The quote was later confirmed by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who attended the meeting.
YURI GRIPAS/REUTERS
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said she takes “a little offense to allegations that the president is racist.”
Nielsen, who was also in the meeting with Trump, said Sunday she could not recall him “using that exact phrase” to describe giving visas to individuals from certain countries. …show more content…
Nielsen, a longtime aide to White House chief of staff John Kelly, was tapped to lead the Department of Homeland Security after Kelly was given the chief of staff role last year.
Sens. David Perdue (R-Ga.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), other participants in the meeting, seemed to backtrack on a prior statement regarding the president’s language in separate interviews on Sunday. While Perdue and Cotton initially said after the meeting that they could not recall whether Trump used the phrase, Perdue told ABC’s “This Week” that Trump “did not say that word.”
“This is a gross misrepresentation, and this is not the first time Sen. Durbin has done it,” Perdue said, referring to his Democratic colleague.
Cotton told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that he “didn’t hear” the president say the
“I take a little offense to allegations that the president is racist,” Nielsen said during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”
Trump sparked a firestorm of criticism this week when he reportedly questioned why the U.S. accepted immigrants from “shithole countries” in Africa as well as from Haiti and El Salvador during an immigration reform meeting with lawmakers at the White House. The quote was later confirmed by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who attended the meeting.
YURI GRIPAS/REUTERS
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said she takes “a little offense to allegations that the president is racist.”
Nielsen, who was also in the meeting with Trump, said Sunday she could not recall him “using that exact phrase” to describe giving visas to individuals from certain countries. …show more content…
Nielsen, a longtime aide to White House chief of staff John Kelly, was tapped to lead the Department of Homeland Security after Kelly was given the chief of staff role last year.
Sens. David Perdue (R-Ga.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), other participants in the meeting, seemed to backtrack on a prior statement regarding the president’s language in separate interviews on Sunday. While Perdue and Cotton initially said after the meeting that they could not recall whether Trump used the phrase, Perdue told ABC’s “This Week” that Trump “did not say that word.”
“This is a gross misrepresentation, and this is not the first time Sen. Durbin has done it,” Perdue said, referring to his Democratic colleague.
Cotton told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that he “didn’t hear” the president say the