Republican strategist John Thomas argued to CNN over the weekend that President Donald Trump's alleged "shithole" remarks about African countries made made sense if one would take the time to "drill down" on the sentiments.

During a panel discussion about the president's reportedly racist remarks about Haiti and Africa, CNN host Martin Savidge noted that Republicans had a "sort of selective memory" when it came to racist statements made by the president.

Thomas replied: "I also think if you drill down and you look at that word, s---hole -- now, it shouldn't have ever been used if, in fact, it even was used, which is in question -- but the issue is... Would you travel to Africa without your vaccinations or would you rather travel to Norway without vaccinations?"

Given that we're talking about people immigrating here, not Americans traveling abroad, this is an odd argument. But maybe Thomas should be asked why a Norwegian would ever want to immigrate to this country.