In an op-ed for Time, actor Sean Penn offered a blistering critique of President Donald Trump in response to the disparaging remarks he allegedly made about Haiti and African nations during an Oval Office meeting with lawmakers Thursday on immigration reform.
On Twitter, Trump admitted to using tough language, but denied he used the offensive term in question.
The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018
In the Time opinion piece, Penn talks at length about his time in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. He talked about witnessing the resilience, pride and love of family the Haitian people exhibited during a time of crisis. Penn also cited statistics suggesting that Haitian immigrants who come to the U.S. contribute positively to their adopted country, earning degrees and sending money back to their homeland to help improve conditions there.
Sean Penn: "President Donald Trump’s words describing the glorious people of Africa, El Salvador and Haiti is far worse than mere insensitivity or even nationalism. Those standards are not disgraceful enough."
Posted by TIME on Friday, January 12, 2018
Penn lamented that at a time when Americans and Haitians should be marking a somber anniversary, they were instead dealing with the fallout of Trump's remarks. Penn said that the solution to our country’s divisiveness is recognizing that Trump is an "enemy of compassion" and an "enemy of mankind."
Penn concluded by saying that Trump is an "enemy of the state."
Cox Media Group