“Shocking”, “displaced” and “degrading”: Régine Laurent and MP Madwa-Nika Cadet, both of Haitian origin, did not mince their words regarding the comments made by Donald Trump who claimed that Haitian refugees settled in Springfield were stealing domestic animals to eat them.
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“When I heard that, I was so angry, furious and I called people around me, I was screaming on the phone,” M said.me Laurent, particularly outraged by the Republican candidate’s words during Tuesday evening’s debate.
“What this guy came out with is a nuclear danger,” she said in an interview on the show. The Balance Sheeton LCN, recalling that “laughing at these racist remarks is trivializing them.”
Liberal MP Madwa-Nika Cadet was equally shocked to hear these comments, saying that “this had absolutely no place in a presidential debate.”
An impact on people
In the aftermath of the televised debate, several Haitian families in Ohio expressed fears of reprisals, with some children even afraid to go to school, the local newspaper reported. The Haitian Times.
“(Donald Trump) is aware of what he is saying. In history, we know this, it is to dehumanize the other. We said at the time that blacks had half a brain, that they were stupid, that we could treat them like cattle,” recalled Mme Laurent.
“When we bring these remarks up on the highest world stage (…), it trivializes this type of remark, it normalizes them and someone who follows him and admires him can simply repeat them in the public space, and that simply has no place,” added M.me Cadet.
For Mme Laurent, also a member of the board of directors of Santé Québec, it is clear that the worst thing to do when faced with this type of remark from the former president is to say that “it’s Trump and we’re not dealing with it.”
“It’s the worst thing to do because his words have an impact on the ground, on individuals, on humans,” she recalled.
“When you have a platform, it comes with responsibilities and Trump does not understand this responsibility,” said the member for Bourassa-Sauvé.
To see the full interview, watch the video above.
