Former Republican party chairman says Trump’s ‘s***hole’ comments prove he's racist

Mr Steele didn't mince words on his recent appearance with MSNBC

(Getty Images for SiriusXM)

A former top Republican says that President Donald Trump’s comments about Haiti and African countries being “s***holes” is a clear sign that the commander in chief is racist.

Michael Steele, who served as the first black chairman of the Republican National Committee, said on MSNBC that enough is enough, and that Mr Trump’s comments prove the point.

“At this point, the evidence is incontrovertible, it’s right there,” Mr Steele said when asked about Mr Trump’s reported comments.

Mr Trump reportedly asked a group of Congressional leaders why the United States should accept immigrants from Haiti or African countries, saying that those places are all “s***holes”.

The comments came as the leaders met in the Oval Office to discuss potential immigration overhauls, and how to help places like Haiti — which remains devastated nearly eight years after a massive hurricane severely damaged the area and led the US to offer support to victims.

Mr Trump, for his part, has denied using that specific language during the meeting. He instead indicated that he was “really tough” when discussing the aide proposals.

He proceeded to say that the meeting proposals were a “big setback” for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which he himself put in jeopardy by saying he would allow the program to expire unless Congress is able to strike a deal to save it.

Allowing DACA to expire will throw the futures of roughly 800,000 young people who came to the United States when they were children into question. Many of those who have applied and received DACA status have since been able to better integrate into US society, getting college degrees, buying homes, and starting businesses.

But, letting DACA slip could jeopardize all of that, and leave those individuals open to deportation.