Fact Check: Did the United Nations call Donald Trump a ‘racist’?
WASHINGTON, DC: Amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East, a rumor has been going viral on social media platforms that the United Nations has called President Donald Trump a ‘racist,’ sparking speculations and many questioning the authenticity of the claim. Let us analyze the origins of the rumor and fact-check the viral claim.
Claim: United Nations called Donald Trump a 'racist'
The claim originated from a report by the UN‘s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which flagged 'racist hate speech' used by Trump and other GOP leaders in the United States.
Following this, social media users critical of Trump began posting claims that the agency called the president a ‘racist,’ accusing him of human rights violations.
The post has garnered millions of views, leaving many confused and questioning whether the agency actually made such a remark about Trump.
Fact Check: False, United Nations did not explicitly make such a remark
However, the United Nations never called the POTUS a racist, and the CERD report was put out of context by social media handles.
The watchdog claimed that the speech, along with recent immigration crackdowns, was a 'grave human rights violation,' and although it did not explicitly call Trump racist, it did single out the president’s comments specifically over its alleged racist undertones.
The report stated that portraying immigration detainees "as criminals or as a burden, by politicians and influential public figures at the highest level, particularly the president, may incite racial discrimination and hate crimes."
It also accused the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection of "systematic use of racial profiling and arbitrary identity checks" and claimed that it has led to discrimination of 'refugees, asylum seekers and migrants' of 'Hispanic/Latino, African or Asian origin.'
White House accuses United Nations of 'extreme bias'
In response to the CERD report, the White House accused the UN of 'extreme bias.' In an emailed statement to Axios, White House spokesperson Olivia Wales slammed the UN, saying that "no one takes them seriously."
The statement read, “President Trump is delivering on his promise to make our country safe again: the murder rate has plummeted to a 125-year low, with last year marking the biggest one-year drop in recorded history, crime categories are dropping across the board, and we have the most secure border in history.”
"No one cares what the biased United Nations' so-called 'experts' think, because Americans are living in a safer, stronger country than ever before," the statement added.
