Zimbabwe decries Trump’s ‘prejudicial’ statement on Africa

Harare, Jan. 17 (IANS): Zimbabwe has denounced US President Donald Trump’s alleged utterances describing African states as “s**thole” countries.
In a statement published by The Herald on Wednesday, the Zimbabwean Foreign Ministry said such comments were hurtful and prejudicial and did not have a place in modern times.
It said the comments attributed to Trump earlier this month have “shocked and dismayed us”, Xinhua news agency reported.
“The US is a prominent country of which the world expects the best example in its projections of democratic values, commitment to the fight against bigotry, upholding the civil rights of all of its people and generosity towards the less fortunate countries in the world.”
The Zimbabwean government said it joined fellow African countries and others in rejecting “this unfortunate characterization of our peoples and countries”.
The US media reported that during an Oval Office meeting on immigration, Trump described Africa, together with Haiti and El Salvador, as “shithole countries” supplying undesirable immigrants to the US.
The demeaning comments, which Trump has since denied, have received broad condemnation from across the globe.