Watch 25 seconds of CNN's Wolf Blitzer refusing to say 'shithole'

Wolf Blitzer won&#039;t say &quot;shithole&quot;

(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/The Daily Show)

published 12 January 2018

Just because President Trump compared several nations to holes filled with excrement on Thursday, and even though CNN felt comfortable putting the word "shithole" up on screen, that doesn't mean CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer will sully himself by quoting the president of the United States on cable news.

At a meeting in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump had asked a bipartisan group of senators, "Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?" — referring to Haiti, El Salvador, and nations in Africa. Blitzer wasn't alone — David Muir at ABC News said Trump had used "a profanity we won't repeat" — but several "media outlets on Thursday took the unusual step of allowing the word 'shithole' to be used in print and on air," including CNN's Jim Acosta, The New York Times reports. "Just f--ing say it, Wolf," The Daily Show said in the caption of its compilation of Blitzer studiously not saying it. Stay strong, Wolf.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.