United States Ambassador Robert P. Jackson, has revealed that he had a call from President Akufo-Addo over US President Trump’s ‘shithole’ comment. Without disclosing what exactly the president said or any other details of the conversation; he clarified that contrary to media reports that Akufo-Addo summoned him, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo rather placed a call to him and they spoke.
He was speaking in an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb’s Kwabena Kyenkyenhene Boateng in 21 Minutes With KKB. The US ambassador said he knew that President Akufo-Addo would not summon him because “I believe that Nana Akufo-Addo knows how I feel”.
He also said the US Embassy “received” the message in the tweet of the President (Akufo-Addo). “He never summoned me, but we spoke. I am not going to discuss my discussions with the President.” Mr Jackson told Ghanaweb’s KKB.
You can’t insult us
President Nana Akufo-Addo had condemned in plain language the “shithole” comment of U.S. President Donald Trump. Mr Trump described El Salvador, Haiti and certain African nations as “shithole” countries during a meeting with lawmakers at the White House middle of January this year.
“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” Mr Trump asked, after being presented with a proposal to restore protections for immigrants from those countries as part of a bipartisan immigration deal. The Washington Post reported the remarks citing aides briefed on the meeting.
Trump demanded to know why the US would accept immigrants from these countries rather than places like Norway, whose prime minister he had met the day before.
Mr Trump has received international condemnation for his comment, one of those criticisms coming from Botswana, whose Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation called on the US’s ambassador to Botswana “to express its displeasure at the alleged utterances made by the President of the US.”
The ministry also asked the ambassador to clarify whether the US regarded Botswana as a “shithole” country, adding that Trump’s comments were “highly irresponsible, reprehensible, and racist”.
