House Democrats criticize Georgia Republican for calling Haiti a ‘sh‑‑hole’

House Democrats on Tuesday criticized Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) for a social media post in which he called Haiti a “shithole.”

“I cannot agree more with some of my Republican colleagues’ derogatory comments about the Haitian people. Haitians deserve rights and dignity, freedom and prosperity just like people around the world,” said Congressman Jason Crow. We are citizens who deserve to be enjoyed.” Democratic Party) and a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said this at a press conference.

Collins’ Monday post was posted in response to another post about the current gang violence in Haiti. More than 360,000 people have been displaced by the violence, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in an update last week.

“Some people might call that shitty.” Collins’ post on Xthe platform formerly known as Twitter.

Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pennsylvania), Crow’s fellow Foreign Relations Committee member, said Collins’ posts “reflect the Democratic Party’s views on world affairs, human suffering, crime, corruption, gangs, and other foreign issues.” “It presents an extraordinary contrast.” He’s against violence — versus people who just want to degrade the people who are suffering from these things,” he said at a press conference.

Collins’ Monday post echoes former President Trump’s reported comments in 2018 in which he referred to immigrants from Haiti and other African countries as coming from “hole countries.”according to to washington postthe former president’s comments came during a meeting with lawmakers amid debate over protections for immigrants from multiple countries.

“Why are we bringing all these people here from these hole-in-the-wall countries?” Trump is quoted as saying.

Trump later denied making that comment, saying in a post about X:[n]I’ve never said anything derogatory about non-Haitians, but obviously Haiti is a very poor and troubled country. ”

“I have a great relationship with the Haitian people,” Trump said in the post. “Maybe future meetings will be recorded, but unfortunately I can’t trust them!”

Collins said in an emailed statement to The Hill:[s]It seems like all the money we spent over the years to help Haiti was a bad investment and current events should be used as an excuse to import more foreigners into America. Not. ”