Washington, Jan 14 (AFP) The word "shithole" -- whichPresident Donald Trump allegedly used to describe countriesfrom which he does not want immigrants coming to the US -- hasbeen projected along with other messages onto his Washingtonhotel.
Trump is said to have made the remarks -- which he hasdenied but which a US Senator who was present confirmed -- ata meeting with legislators, setting off a firestorm ofcriticism when they became public.
"NOT A DC RESIDENT? NEED A PLACE TO STAY? TRY OURSHITHOLE. THIS PLACE IS A SHITHOLE," read successive messagesprojected over the entrance of the Trump International Hotelin central Washington, according to a video posted on socialmedia.
A flood of grinning feces emojis then stream out of thehotel's entrance as "SHITHOLE" appears in larger text aboveit.
Another clip shows the word "SHITHOLE" over the entrancealong with an arrow pointing to the door.
The videos were posted on the Twitter account of RobinBell, who has staged other projection protests and beenlikened to a "hit-and-run editorial writer" by The WashingtonPost.
The alleged expletive emerged out of a Thursday meetingbetween Trump and legislators.
The topic? Immigration reform.
After lawmakers raised the issue of protections forimmigrants from African nations, Haiti and El Salvador, thepresident reportedly demanded to know why the United Statesshould accept immigrants from "shithole countries," ratherthan -- for instance -- wealthy and overwhelmingly whiteNorway.
Trump on Friday tweeted a convoluted denial about thecomments, which were reported by The Washington Post and TheNew York Times.
But Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said Trump hadspecifically asked, "Do we need more Haitians?" beforelaunching into a diatribe about African immigration.
Trump then "said things which were hate-filled, vile andracist," Durbin said, adding that "shithole" was "the exactword used by the president, not just once but repeatedly."(AFP)PMS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.