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Flashback: That Time Dick Durbin Made Up A Story About A GOP Leader Insulting President Obama
Townhall.com ^ | January 12, 2018 | Matt Vespa

Posted on 01/12/2018 6:51:34 PM PST by Kaslin

It’s been widely reported that President Trump asked during immigration negotiations between congressional leaders why are we letting people from “sh*thole countries” to come here. We have some people who say that he said it, others don’t recall. Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and David Perdue (R-GA) said in a statement:

“In regards to Senator Durbin’s accusation, we do not recall the President saying these comments specifically but what he did call out was the imbalance in our current immigration system, which does not protect American workers and our national interest. We, along with the President, are committed to solving an issue many in Congress have failed to deliver on for decades.”

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) is the one who confirmed the president said these remarks; Trump has denied such language was used. Here’s a clip of Durbin recollecting the incident (via RCP) [emphasis mine]:


SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): In the course of his comments of said things which were hate-filled, vile and racist — he used those words. I understand how powerful they are. But I cannot believe that in the history of the White House, in that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken words that I personally heard our president speak yesterday.

You’ve seen the comments in the press. I’ve not read one of them that’s inaccurate. To no surprise, the president started tweeting this morning, denying that he used those words. It is not true. He said these hate-filled things. And he said them repeatedly. When the question was raised about Haitians, for example, we have a group that have temporary protected status in the United States because they were the victims of crises and disasters and political upheaval. The largest group’s El Salvadorians. The second is Honduran and the third is Haitian.

When I mentioned that fact to him, he said, “Haitians, do we need more Haitians?” Then he went on and started to describe the immigration from Africa that was being protected in this bipartisan measure. That’s when he used these vile and vulgar comments, calling the nations they come from “shitholes,” The exact word used by the president — not just once but repeatedly.

That was the nature of this conversation. When it came to the issue of, quote, “chain migration,” I said to the president, do you realize how painful that term is to so many people? African-Americans believe they migrated to America in chains and when you talk about chain migration, it hurts them personally.

We’ll get back to that in a second. First, you know, Dick Durbin has been know to say colorful things himself. In 2005, he compared U.S. troops to Nazis, remarks that he was forced to apologize for on the Senate floor (via WaPo):

Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) yesterday offered a tearful apology on the Senate floor for comparing the alleged abuse of prisoners by American troops to techniques used by the Nazis, the Soviets and the Khmer Rouge, as he sought to quell a frenzy of Republican-led criticism.

Durbin, the Democratic whip, acknowledged that "more than most people, a senator lives by his words" but that "occasionally words will fail us and occasionally we will fail words." Choking up, he said: "Some may believe that my remarks crossed the line. To them, I extend my heartfelt apologies."

Second, is that Durbin is not the most reliable source when it comes to White House meetings. In 2013, during the debt ceiling negotiations, Dick was caught straight up lying, alleging that one GOP congressional leader told the president, “I can’t even stand to look at you.” This never happened (via Politico) [emphasis mine]:

The No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, Sen. Dick Durbin, said in a Facebook post that a House Republican leader told off President Barack Obama during a negotiation meeting, and that GOP leaders are so disrespectful it’s practically impossible to have a conversation with them.

But Wednesday afternoon, both the White House and House speaker’s office denied his claims.

In a ‘negotiation’ meeting with the president, one GOP House Leader told the president: ‘I cannot even stand to look at you,’” Durbin wrote in a post on his Facebook page over the weekend.

[…]

Asked about the post in the White House daily briefing, press secretary Jay Carney said he checked with a participant of the meeting in question.

I looked into this and spoke with somebody who was in that meeting and it did not happen,” Carney said.

The Obama White House quickly provided Durbin with some cover, saying there was a misunderstanding, or something (via Business Insider):

While the quote attributed to a Republican lawmaker in the House GOP meeting with the President is not accurate, there was a miscommunication when the White House read out that meeting to Senate Democrats, and we regret the misunderstanding," the White House official said in a statement.

Oh, and now this revelation over chain migration. What changed? In 2007, a statement from his office included a portion, where it said the DREAM Act wouldn’t lead to “chain migration”:

The DREAM Act would NOT lead to “chain migration”. DREAM Act beneficiaries would have very limited ability to sponsor family members. They could never sponsor extended family members and they could not begin sponsoring siblings or parents for at least six years. The visa backlog for siblings is decades long and parents who are illegally present in the U.S. would have to leave the country for ten years before they could gain legal status.

Yesterday, the phrase was used in a joint press release for a rejected proposal hashed out by Durbin and Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Cory Gardner (R-CO), and Robert Menendez (D-NJ). 

So, could Durbin be peddling inaccuracies again? It’s possible. 


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: dickdurbin; presidenttrump
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1 posted on 01/12/2018 6:51:34 PM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Durbin also referred to members of our military as Nazi’s..I cant believe people are taking the words of Durbin as GOSPEL..no one else in the room said this is what Trump said except for Durbin yet people are buying it like it’s the truth. By the way IF Trump did say it..GOOD FOR HIM cause its the truth!


2 posted on 01/12/2018 6:56:04 PM PST by Sarah Barracuda
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To: Kaslin

Why the hell is Trump bothering with a scumbag liar like Durbin, and why should anyone “protect” continued refugees from Haiti and Africa? This is insanity. End the talks.


3 posted on 01/12/2018 6:56:35 PM PST by Williams (Stop tolerating the intolerant.)
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To: Kaslin

Being announced on Fox News right now. Laura Ingraham.


4 posted on 01/12/2018 7:00:42 PM PST by tired&retired (Blessings)
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To: Kaslin

Tar, feathers, rail ....


5 posted on 01/12/2018 7:06:10 PM PST by IWontSubmit (2)
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To: Kaslin

pretty low to do that.


6 posted on 01/12/2018 7:06:30 PM PST by FreedBird (v)
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To: Kaslin
Democrat Senator Dick Durbin Refuses to Release Email Correspondence He Had With Leftwing Assassin James Hodgkinson:
http://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=370427
7 posted on 01/12/2018 7:07:40 PM PST by IWontSubmit (2)
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To: Kaslin

Dubious Dick Durbin


8 posted on 01/12/2018 7:09:35 PM PST by Fedora
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To: tired&retired

What is being announced?


9 posted on 01/12/2018 7:12:56 PM PST by Empireoftheatom48 (God did help the Republic, can we keep it.)
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To: Kaslin
Not surprising....just think back to Dirty Harry's "Romney's paid no taxes in 10 years".After the election he admitted in an interview that it was a lie and then,when asked if he regretted it,he proudly...slyly...observed that it was very effective.

IOW he was proud of himself.

10 posted on 01/12/2018 7:13:22 PM PST by Gay State Conservative (Remember: All Cultures Are Equal!)
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To: Kaslin
Durbin is a 💩head!
11 posted on 01/12/2018 7:20:50 PM PST by Lopeover ( The 2016 Election is about allegiance to the United States!)
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To: Kaslin

They don’t call him Dick for nuthin.


12 posted on 01/12/2018 7:40:01 PM PST by Old Yeller (Auto-correct has become my worst enema.)
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To: Kaslin

“Sh!thole Dick” strikes again...


13 posted on 01/12/2018 8:04:58 PM PST by kiryandil (Never pick a fight with an angry beehive)
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To: Empireoftheatom48

Laura went over Durbin’s previous lies and made up statements, including his saying that our military was like Stalin, Pol Pot.... She actually played the tape of him saying it.

She also showed where Obama called Libya a Shi*@ Show. Then she asked why it was not bad when Obama did that in public.


14 posted on 01/12/2018 8:09:39 PM PST by tired&retired (Blessings)
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To: Kaslin
Meanwhile the press and their dupes and cohorts are pouring it on. One has to consider the absolute volume and intensity caused by just one word. Then consider the world we live in and it's problems.

It seems to me that about three times I used the description of "shelf life". This concerning either President Trump or something the press got up. That arousing a furore. Now I wonder just where will this furore be by next Friday? Will it be deader than door nail?

Stay strong Mr. President.

15 posted on 01/12/2018 8:15:30 PM PST by Peter Libra
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To: Kaslin

I guess the fool must also classify the countless other phrases with “chain” in them as racially hurtful (”chain of custody” “chain smoker” “food chain” “chain of command” “chain reaction” etc.)


16 posted on 01/12/2018 8:42:48 PM PST by drpix
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To: Kaslin

Durbin is a s-—hole of a senator.


17 posted on 01/12/2018 8:53:05 PM PST by TBP (Progressives lack compassion and tolerance. Their self-aggrandizement is all that matters.)
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To: TBP

18 posted on 01/12/2018 9:04:58 PM PST by McBuff (To be, rather than to seem)
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To: McBuff

19 posted on 01/12/2018 9:23:49 PM PST by bar sin·is·ter (Climate Scientology - another example of science fiction morphing into a religious cult)
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To: Kaslin

“Asian carp is a highly invasive, non-native aquatic species that threatens valuable habitats in the United States. This aggressive fish can reach 100 pounds and eats 40 percent of its body weight in plankton every day, negatively impacting the entire ecosystem as it depletes the base of the *****food chain.” *****

Sincerely,
Dick Durbin
U.S. Senator

https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-leads-senators-in-asking-for-funding-to-implement-asian-carp-plan

DURBIN: I can tell you, when it comes to border security, we have signed up for that. Senator Schumer said that months ago. We believe that there are aspects of border security that Democrats and Republicans can agree on. When it comes to ****chain migration,*** bottom line — and I have even spoken to [Akansas] Senator [Tom] Cotton about this — is, when these dreamers become citizens, they are not going to be second-class citizens.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/11/26/sen-graham-endorses-end-chain-migration/


20 posted on 01/12/2018 11:57:19 PM PST by Kent C
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