Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, in no uncertain terms, never wants to step foot in the United States.
That’s what he told reporters on Friday after being asked about Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) slamming Duterte over human rights abuses in the Philippines and saying he would “lead the protest” if the president accepted Donald Trump’s invitation to the White House.
“There will never be a time that I will go to America during my term, or even thereafter,” Duterte said. “So what makes that guy think I’ll go to America? I’ve seen America, and it’s lousy.”
Trump had invited Duterte to the White House in April during what the administration called a “very friendly” phone call between them.
News of the invitation sparked widespread condemnation from human rights advocates, who pointed to Duterte’s well-documented practice of extrajudicial killings of drug dealers and addicts. The number of deaths reaches well into the thousands.
As chairman of the congressional human rights commission, McGovern led a hearing on Thursday as a part of an investigation into the killings. “No arrest. No warrant. No judge. No jury. Simply, murder,” he said in his opening statement.
Watch Duterte speak below:
Duterte says he won't go to U.S. even after his term https://t.co/Nm40eYDo63 pic.twitter.com/r6BmSWbEy2
— CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) July 21, 2017
H/t to the Washington Post and GMA News.
