Trump allies see 's***hole' controversy as overblown

BY JONATHAN EASLEY - 01/13/18 08:05 AM EST

The White House believes it can brush off the latest racially-charged controversy confronting it, with allies arguing the blowback over President Trump’s disparaging remarks about “shithole” countries is just the latest example of overcooked media outrage and weak GOP lawmakers buckling under pressure.

The president had few defenders on the airwaves on Friday, as cable news outlets went wall-to-wall with coverage about how Trump had complained in an Oval Office meeting about restoring protected status for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African nations. Privately, sources close to the White House were unbowed and dismissive of what they described as predictable hysteria over Trump’s vulgar remarks.

“It’s a classic example of how D.C. and New York react versus how the rest of the country reacts,” said one former White House official. “What people in the media class still don’t understand is that this guy talks like a normal person and that’s why he won in the first place. I’m sorry if it offends the media’s delicate sensibilities but the reality is more Americans speak like President Trump than speak like [CNN anchor] Jim Acosta.”

Furthermore, Trump’s advisers argued that the president was merely articulating – however crudely – the conservative position on immigration: That the U.S. should be able to decide who is allowed into the country and that lawmakers should implement a merit-based immigration system rather than opening the borders to immigrants looking to escape dysfunctional or poverty-stricken parts of the world.

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http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/368816-trump-allies-say-shithole-controversy-as-overblown