IMMIGRATION/POLITICAL FIGURES/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Gov. Rick Scott distanced himself Thursday [1-12-18] from President Donald Trump’s undisputed comments calling Haiti and some African nations ‘shithole’ countries — remarks that Democrats say could cost him if he runs for U.S. Senate.
Scott, who is being recruited by Trump to run against Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, stopped just short of a blanket denouncement of the president’s comments by saying he condemned them ‘if’ the media reports about them were true. Neither the White House nor a fellow Florida Republican who was in the room during an immigration reform meeting disputed the president’s racial remarks… Florida is home to an estimated 305,000 foreign-born Haitians — at least 106,000 of whom were registered to vote in 2016, according to research by Daniel A. Smith, a University of Florida political scientist.
He estimated in 2016 that their turnout rate was 75 percent, the statewide average. The number of voters of Haitian descent in Florida is higher than the number of Haitian-born voters, but there are no hard statistics.
Democrats, noting that Trump’s administration is allowing for the deportation of 58,700 Haitians who are losing their Temporary Protected Status said there’s room to register tens of thousands of more Haitian-American voters as Trump fires up the community… The White House did not deny Trump made the remarks.”
-Marc Caputo, “Scott denounces Trump’s ‘shithole’ Haiti comments as Democrats see opportunity,” Politico, Jan. 11, 2018 11:25pm