HOUSTON – Senator Ted Cruz, who was the object of attacks from President Donald Trump long before he got elected to the White House, responded to the reported expletive Trump used Thursday to describe Haiti and African nations during a delicate White House meeting on immigration.
“I wasn't in the meeting with the president so I don’t know what he did or didn't say. I can tell you my family, Heidi as a child lived in Africa, she lived in Kenya and Nigeria. Her parents were missionaries there. My brother-in-law has been a missionary with his wife and sons in Haiti for many years,” Cruz said.
President Trump denied using the vulgarity.
“The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country,” Trump tweeted Friday morning.
Cruz said the approach he tries to take in Washington is to stay out of the nastiness, attacks and insults and focus on substance and results instead.
Cruz and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner were both asked to respond to the president’s reported statement during a news conference about tax breaks and federal funding for Harvey flood victims.
“The comments were highly unfortunate and shameful. We are an inclusive society. Every person has value. Every community is important and we should be lifting up and not tearing down,” Turner said.