Trump revives ‘shithouse countries’ jibe at Georgia rally, says US should take migrants from Norway, Sweden, Denmark

Washington, October 25 (IANS) President Donald Trump revived his “shithouse countries” remark at a campaign rally in Perry, Georgia, saying the US should take immigrants from Nordic nations such as Norway, Sweden and Denmark. He also claimed that Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar had “openly admitted to fraud”.Trump spoke on Saturday evening after landing at Robins Air Force Base, ten days before the November 3 midterm elections.Recalling a meeting with Democratic senators during his first term, Trump told the crowd: “And I said, why do we always have to take people from shithouse countries? Why can’t we take people from like, well, Norway, Sweden. Why not Denmark?”He spoke of “armies of migrants from terror infested countries like Libya, Yemen, Haiti, Somalia,” and asked the crowd: “Remember what I call them? Shithouse countries. Remember the heat I took from the Democrats?”Trump singled out the Somali community, claiming that “98% of the people that we have here now in Somalia don’t work” and that “they all have a Mercedes Benz.”Turning to the border, Trump claimed his administration had “achieved the most secure border in American history”. He said: “In the past 17 months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States.”He also claimed that the murder rate was at “the lowest level it’s been in 125 years”.Pointing to France, Trump said it was “right now burning down because it opens its borders to people who hate it.” “And you know what you do with those people? Never let them come into your country. And that’s what we do,” he said.On the economy, Trump claimed that the poverty rate had reached “the single best level in American history”. He listed “African-American poverty, Hispanic-American poverty, and Native-American poverty,” and added: “And by the way, Asian-American poverty, all those rates are at the best levels ever recorded.”Asian Americans, among them more than five million people of Indian origin, are a closely watched voting bloc in Georgia, where the community has grown fast in the Atlanta suburbs.Trump also took aim at Omar, the Somali-born Democrat from Minnesota. “Please inform the Speaker of the House of Representatives James Michael Johnson that the Democrat Party has just conceded her seat,” he said, adding that Omar “has openly admitted to fraud and she will not be legally allowed to be a member of this August body.”House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries condemned the remarks. “Donald Trump has consistently trafficked in vile and xenophobic rhetoric against the Somali American community, targeting Congresswoman Ilhan Omar with unhinged personal attacks and baseless accusations,” he said in a statement.“After lawlessly sending his violent DHS machine to Congresswoman Omar’s home earlier this month, the President is once again peddling sick propaganda against her at a moment when political violence is surging,” Jeffries said.“Accountability is coming for the Trump Cartel and all of their lawless sycophants,” he added.Immigration has been a central theme of Trump’s campaign for Republican candidates ahead of the midterms, which will decide control of both chambers of Congress.