LARGO, Md. (AP) - With Vice President Mike Pence sitting in the pews, a Maryland pastor denounced a vulgar description of African nations that President Donald Trump is said to have used.
Maurice Watson, pastor of Metropolitan Baptist Church in Largo, delivered the sermon Sunday while Pence was visiting.
Watson called Trump's remarks, in which he reportedly used an obscenity to describe African nations and Haiti during an immigration discussion with Congressional leaders, "dehumanizing" and "ugly."
The pastor said "whoever made such a statement" is wrong and should be held accountable.
Watson said he felt "led by God to do it" and noted many of his congregants come from African nations.
Worshippers stood and applauded as Watson spoke.
WUSA-TV reports Pence became red-faced at times during the sermon, though Pence's office denied that in an email Monday to The Associated Press.
Former President Joe Biden
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - Former Vice President Joe Biden says American values are being challenged but that the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. provides an example of how to respond.
Biden was the keynote speaker Monday at the Delaware State Bar Association's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast in Wilmington.
The News Journal reports Biden criticized President Donald Trump's response to the white nationalist rallies in Charlottesville and his use of a vulgarity to describe African nations during an immigration discussion.
But he said he believes Americans are ready to respond and re-establish the nation's "moral fabric."
Biden said now is the time to "remind ourselves who we are as Americans."
