TRUMP SAYS "SHITHOLE COUNTRIES"; WHITE HOUSE SAYS "BOO-YA!"

I'm sure you already know that this happened today:

President Trump grew frustrated with lawmakers Thursday in the Oval Office when they floated restoring protections for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries as part of a bipartisan immigration deal, according to two people briefed on the meeting.

“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” Trump said, according to these people, referring to African countries and Haiti. He then suggested that the United States should instead bring more people from countries like Norway, whose prime minister he met yesterday.

That report is from The Washington Post. NBC confirms the story -- and notably, the White House doesn't call the report fake news:

The White House issued a statement that did not deny the remarks.

"Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people," White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah told NBC Thursday, as part of a lengthy statement that did not directly dispute the language reportedly used in the meeting.

In fact, according to a CNN reporter, they're apparently high-fiving in the West Wing.

Staffers inside the White House aren't that worried about Trump's "shithole" remark -- with some predicting it will actually resonate with his base, not alienate it, much like his attacks on NFL players who kneel during the national anthem did.

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) January 11, 2018

White House celebrating "shithole" moment, believes racist supporters will be energized by "shithole" pic.twitter.com/qUBUmPRTwA

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) January 11, 2018

Congress is getting close to a compromise on DACA and border security, and the president might go along with it, to the disgust of his base. Maybe White House staffers are hoping that this will keep him in the good graces of the base, even if he signs what base voters regard as an "amnesty" bill. (Right-wingers regard any immigration proposal that isn't exclusively punitive as "amnesty," which is the worst imaginable insult.)

We know we have an abhorrent president. This is a reminder that it isn't just him -- we have an abhorrent administration. And if, as is likely, condemnations from elected members of the Republican Party are rare or nonexistent, we have an abhorrent governing party, appealing to an abhorrent voter base. The rot goes deep.