GOP lawmaker compares Trump ‘sh*thole’ remarks to Obama inviting civil rights activists to White House

A Wisconsin Republican compared President Donald Trump's "sh*thole" slur against African immigrants to former President Barack Obama inviting civil rights activists to the White House.

Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) spoke Monday at an event at Ripon College commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and he was asked to comment on the president's profane remarks during an Oval Office meeting on immigration, reported the Ripon Press.

"I think he is doing what he can to try to bring people together," Grothman said. "I mean, if you meet him that is just obvious, and I think he has had to put up with, to a certain extent it's self-inflicted, more scrutiny than other presidents."

The Glenbeulah lawmaker then complained that Obama had invited a prominent civil rights leader demonized by right-wing media as a police hater.

"The past president brought Al Sharpton into the White House something like 80 times," Grothman said. "That was kind of stunning to me but nobody ever made a big ruckus out of it."

The figure Grothman cited, which has been promoted by Rudy Giuliani and reported by Fox News, is generally accurate but misleading, according to a Washington Post analysis.

Grothman then stood up and continued addressing students at the event.

"Something I think that's lost in this discussion is, I think America itself as compared to other places around the globe and other times, is about the most diverse, tolerant place you're going to find," Grothman said.

He then brought up Ethiopian ethnic strife, separatist movements in Spain and racial prejudice in Brazil -- and said Americans had things better.

"I really think it's a good thing we work on tolerance and respecting each other, but I think we can't forget that I think if you talk to people around the globe, you look to the outright civil wars where people are dying frequently and the separatist movements based on the most tiny ethnic differences, and you compare that to the United States -- well, you can always improve America, it is a very good place to live," Grothman said. "Now I've got to take off."