Earlier this month, on Jan. 11, a bipartisan group of senators and representatives presented their plan to prevent the deportation of more than half a million “dreamers” to President Trump. Until now, dreamers had been protected from deportation by an Obama-era plan known as DACA. This plan granted amnesty to children who were brought into America illegally by their parents. However, the Trump administration has since signaled that it will end the DACA program.

At the January meeting, Trump is accused of calling places like Haiti, Africa, and El Salvador “shitholes.” Democratic senator from Illinois Dick Durban, a member of the group of legislators presenting that day, was one of the first to report Trump’s comments.

“‘Those shitholes send us the people that they don’t want,’” Durban quoted the president as saying.

Later, Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator in the room when the alleged comments were made, confirmed to Senator Tim Scott that the media’s descriptions were basically accurate.

The Trump administration did not deny that President Trump made these comments. However, on Twitter, Trump himself denied saying exactly those words.

Drury student Gathrie Shava, from Harare Zimbabwe, had some choice words of his own for the president.

“Africa is home to 1.2 billion people and more than fifty countries,” said Shava. “A whole continent can’t simply be stereotyped or dismissed. A cursory glance of Africa’s achievements includes Nobel prizes in medicine, chemistry, physics, literature, and peace. That’s one award Donald Trump will surely never win.”

Another Drury student, Santiago Portillo, is from El Salvador. Although he disliked Trump’s alleged comments, he is more concerned with Trump’s policies toward his countrymen.

“Our country has obviously been angered by the comments. What I have seen is, from my friend’s and media sources, that they have been united in speaking out about all of the good things that [El Salvador] has,” said Portillo.

Portillo continued: “The shithole comments were very big, but the thing that was much bigger was the break up of [the TPS] agreement.”

Portillo is referring to the Trump administration’s revocation of El Salvador’s temporary protected status. In this program, El Salvadorian nationals were allowed to stay in the US regardless of their legal status. The policy has been in place since 2001 because of the earthquake El Salvador experienced.

To some, reports of these comments are offensive. Vulgar language by presidents, however, is nothing new. Drury University political science Professor and Meador Center Chairman Daniel Ponder is a presidency expert. He tells the Mirror that foulmouthed Presidents are not a new phenomenon.

“Many presidents have used salty language.  Missouri’s own Harry Truman was famous for his raw language and willingness to use colorful language,” said Ponder.

President Lyndon Johnson, known for his boisterousness, would use the n-word depending on whether he was speaking to northern Democrats or southern Democrats. But the coup de grâce of presidential potty mouths has to be Richard Nixon.

“Richard Nixon,” explained Ponder “who in addition to using various expletives often used racial epithets when referring to African-Americans, Italians, Irish, Germans, and Jewish people.  He even referred to Henry Kissinger, sometimes in front of him, as ‘Jew boy.’”

Trump’s alleged comments are offensive to some, but he definitely has not broken the presidential mold.