White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday that Democrats are exploiting reports of inflammatory comments that President Trump made last week to stall on getting “something accomplished” on DACA and immigration reform.
“I think (Democrats) are using it as an excuse to not help this President get something accomplished, which I think is a sad day for our country,” Sanders said when asked whether Democrats were using Trump’s insults — calling African countries “shitholes” — as leverage get their way on DACA.
Trump reportedly asked lawmakers in a bipartisan meeting on immigration reform Thursday why the U.S. needs more immigrants from Haiti and “shithole countries” like those in Africa. Trump has denied he made those remarks, but he did admit to using “tough” language in his attempts to push for a merit-based immigration system.
Sanders also said it was “sad” that Democrats were willing to “throw away” negotiations on DACA, “which they say is a huge priority.”
“The President brought them all here, had a very candid conversation, which you guys were all witness to, on getting that done and laid out,” she said. “Things that all of these individuals have voted for. It seems absolutely hypocritical that now all of a sudden they don’t want border security. They don’t want merit-based immigration system when they’ve supported it, voted for it and spoken about it many times in the past.”