"If confirmed, these are shocking and shameful comments from the president of the US. I am sorry but there is no other word one can use, but ‘racist.' You can't dismiss entire countries and continents as shit holes whose entire population is not white and therefore are not welcomed," the OHCHR spokesman told a briefing.
Illinois state Sen. Kwame Raoul, whose parents immigrated from Haiti to the US back in the 1950s said that "there was no apologizing out of this."
"He's demonstrated himself to be unfit, unknowledgeable about the history of this country and the history of contributions that immigrants, particularly Haitian immigrants, have made to this country," the official said.
At the same time, South Africa's ruling African National Congress called Trump's comments "extremely offensive," while the African Union said it was "frankly alarmed" by the remarks.
"Given the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, this statement flies in the face of all accepted behavior and practice," AU spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo told the Associated Press news agency.
"This is particularly surprising as the United States of America remains a global example of how migration gave birth to a nation built on strong values of diversity and opportunity," the spokeswoman added.
READ MORE: 'Lack of Respect': Trump's 'Sh*hole Countries' Rant Sparks Twitter Fury
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) strongly criticized US President Donald Trump’s alleged remark, describing it as "a low mark" for his presidency.
"As our nation fights to move forward, our President falls deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole of racism and xenophobia … His decision to use profanity to describe African, Central American and Caribbean countries is not only a low mark for this President, it is a low point for our nation," the NAACP’s press release read.
Citing Trump’s stance on the US-Mexican border wall and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, the civil rights organization accused Trump of the wish to "return America to its ugly past of white supremacy" with laws only favoring individuals of certain ancestry.
Though Trump’s travel bans and initiatives have been widely criticized and challenged multiple times in courts, he continues taking a hardline immigration stance, citing security and economic reasons.
Earlier today, it was reported that US president Donald Trump had dubbed Haiti, El Salvador and several African countries "shithole" countries while speaking about migrants from these countries.
