Watch the moment Anderson Cooper got choked up defending Haiti from Donald Trump's 'shithole' comments

'Haitians stand tall and have dignity - A dignity many in this White House could learn from'

After an explosive report by The Washington Post claimed Donald Trump referred to African countries and Haiti as “s***holes”, CNN presenter Anderson Cooper decided to tackle the subject.

“I want to take a moment to talk about Haiti, one of the places the president of the United States called a ’s***hole country,’” he started the segment.

Cooper then spoke about his experiences with Haiti and the country’s people, revealing his maths teacher was a Haitian immigrant who was later assassinated when running for president of Haiti.

The presenter also spoke about visiting the country multiple times throughout his career — reporting on the 2010 earthquake — also venturing there on holiday.

“Like all countries, Haiti is a collection of people,” he said. “It’s rich and poor, well-educated and not, good and bad. But I’ve never met a Haitian who isn’t strong. You often have to be in a country where a government has abandoned its people, opportunities are few, and mother nature has punished the people far more than anyone should ever be published.”

let me be clear tonight,” he continued. “The people of Haiti have been through more. They’ve been through more, they’ve withstood more. They’ve fought back against more injustice than our president ever has.”

Anderson then spoke about the earthquake that hit Haiti eight years ago, detailing how between 220,000 and 300,000 people died but strangers helped each other.

“I was there when a young girl, who’d been trapped in rubble in nearly a day was rescued by people who had no heavy equipment. They only had their God-given strength and their determination and their courage,” he said. Cooper then began to choke up.

“I was there when a 5-year-old boy was rescued after being buried for more than seven days. Do you know what strength it takes to survive on rainwater, buried under concrete? A 5-year-old boy, buried for seven days.”

He finished by adding: “Haitians slap your hand hard when they shake it, they don’t blink. They stand tall and they have dignity. It’s a dignity many in this White House could learn from. It’s a dignity the president, with all his money and all his power, could learn from as well.” Watch below.

Trump’s comments have been decried across the board, late night hosts mocking the President, including Trevor Noah, who said: “Personally, as someone from South Sh*t Hole, I’m offended, Mr. President.”