Former President Clinton pushed back on President Trump’s reported comments calling Haiti, El Salvador and African nations “shithole countries” on Friday, saying the countries the president described with his comments “do not exist.”
“I’ve traveled and worked in Haiti, and across Africa and Central America. The countries the president described with his epithet do not exist,” Clinton said in a tweet.
The former president, in a Facebook post, went on to express his admiration for the people of Haiti on the eight-year anniversary of the earthquake that took the lives of thousands of people on the island.
“Working in Haiti, for the [United Nations] and as a private citizen, is one of the great honors of my life. I have found the people to be creative, hardworking, brave, and persistent,” Clinton said.
Clinton’s comments come after The Washington Post on Thursday reported on the president’s comments about the countries made during a bipartisan meeting with lawmakers on immigration reform.
Trump denied making the comments in a tweet on Friday.
The comments have drawn outrage on both sides of the aisle.
A frequent Trump ally, Gov. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), blasted the remarks, calling them “absolutely wrong” if true.
Clinton’s wife and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton also ripped the remarks, dubbing them “racist” and “ignorant.”