Trump digs himself 'in a hole' - New Yorker cover responds to Trump's 'shithole' comment

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

• The New Yorker responded to President Donald Trump's reported "shithole" comment by giving a sneak peek of its upcoming magazine cover.
• The cover shows Trump in a black hole with only his hair showing.
• Trump defended his "tough" rhetoric on immigration, but said he didn't say anything derogatory toward immigrants.

In less than 24 hours, President Donald Trump's reported comments about "shithole countries" reverberated around the world, prompting swift condemnation from the Haitian and Botswana governments.

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On Friday, The New Yorker weighed into the controversy with an early look at its upcoming January 22 cover.

In the soon-to-be released edition, artist Anthony Russo depicts Trump in a black hole with his perfectly coiffed blonde hair protruding out.

During a Thursday meeting on immigration with a bipartisan group of lawmakers, Trump criticized protections the US has given to immigrants from various underdeveloped countries.

"Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?" Trump said, according to reports from multiple news outlets.

Trump and the lawmakers had been discussing a visa lottery program that annually allows as many as 50,000 citizens from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the US to reside in the US legally, as well as programs that temporarily protect certain immigrants from deportation that the White House is ending.

In a series of tweets Friday, Trump said he used "tough" language but that he "never said anything derogatory" about Haitians.

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, who was present during the Thursday meeting, refuted Trump's denial. He said Trump used "shithole" to describe Haiti and African countries "not just once, but repeatedly."

"In the course of his comments," Durbin said, Trump "said things which were hate-filled, vile, and racist."