Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and David Perdue (R-GA) commented Friday on their immigration meeting with President Trump, responding to reports that he referred to countries like Haiti as “sh**hole countries.” They say they “do not recall” Trump saying those comments.
“President Trump brought everyone to the table this week and listened to both sides. But regrettably, it seems that not everyone is committed to negotiating in good faith,” they said in a statement. “In regards to Senator Durbin’s accusation, we do not recall the President saying these comments specifically but what he did call out was the imbalance in our current immigration system, which does not protect American workers and our national interest. We, along with the President, are committed to solving an issue many in Congress have failed to deliver on for decades.”
President Trump tweeted a denial of the reports Friday morning.
The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) said his fellow South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham told him the comments were “basically accurate.”
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who was also in the meeting, claimed that Trump did use the vulgar terminology in the meeting.
"It is not true," Durbin said of Trump's defensive tweets. "He said these hate-filled things, and he said them repeatedly."