I have received inquiries asking for my reaction to the president's latest racist slur directed against Haitians and people of African descent worldwide. I am really getting tired of having to do this. I have to express first how demoralizing and upsetting it is to have to register my outrage about hateful remarks made by my own president. And then to have to do it again. And again. The president's words are ignorant and repulsive and an affront to decency and to history.

Like many, I would like to believe that Trump represents the last gasp of a racist worldview that has been in retreat, here in America, since the fall of Jim Crow. Sadly, his views and his presidency serve to embolden other hateful people and to diminish our nation's position as a power for good, for decency, for democracy. Those who enable and normalize his behavior are every bit as culpable as the president himself.

As leaders and as people of free-will, I call upon all Americans to denounce his statements. I'm very disappointed in us, the people of the United States, who saw fit to elect an ignorant, mean-spirited, white supremacist to the most powerful office in the world. This is a very sad time for our country. I ask that the people of Haiti and the African diaspora worldwide keep us in their prayers.

Finally, tonight is the eve of a heart wrenching anniversary for Haiti, for our hemisphere and for all people. Eight years ago tomorrow, Haiti suffered one of the greatest natural catastrophes of the modern age when an earthquake struck on Jan. 12, 2010. Hundreds of thousands of people died. So many more were maimed and left homeless for years to come. Haiti is still working hard to recover and to grieve. On behalf of my family and my constituents here in Boston, I extend my deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the Jan. 12 disaster, who are tonight thinking of their loved ones they have lost. We will always be with you.