I believe one important matter that’s been really overlooked in the reaction to Donald Trump calling African countries (in addition to El Salvador and Haiti) ‘shitholes’ is the negative effect such comments may have on the lives of American troops currently stationed in Africa.
Trump’s racist and idiotic comments may now -- literally -- place the lives of thousands of our troops stationed in African countries in danger. The United States has at least 5,000 troops stationed all over Africa (source: http://www.newsweek.com/how-many-troops-does-us-have-africa-top-senators-didnt-know-military-was-niger-690937). Anti-American sentiment is already quite high among certain segments of many of these countries’ population, and Trump’s comments may only serve to inflame further. Who knows what nutcase may now use Trump’s words as a weapon -- whereby anti-American sentiment turns into violence against American soldiers?
Just a few months ago, Trump was in the midst of controversy over comments he made in the follow-up to a deadly attack on U.S. troops in Niger (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/23/us/politics/soldiers-widow-says-trump-struggled-to-remember-sgt-la-david-johnsons-name.html) … Surely -- one would think -- Trump would have gained some knowledge of the dangerous situation we currently face on that continent?
In light of the tragic circumstances of what occurred in Niger, the wording Trump used the other day is beyond reprehensible. Forget for one second the broader implication of his comments for Africans and people of African descent (just for the sake of argument here) and focus only on what Trump’s ‘shithole’ comments mean for the lives of U.S. troops.
Through his words, Trump proves once again that he is not fit to be Commander-in-Chief nor fit to be President. For that matter, as a recent USA Today editorial so accurately put it (https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/12/12/trump-lows-ever-hit-rock-bottom-editorials-debates/945947001/) -- and this is especially apt in terms of Trump’s ‘shithole’ comments -- Trump is not fit to clean the toilets in Obama’s presidential library.