A Republican senator who attended the White House immigration meeting shot down reports that President Trump used the term “shithole countries” to refer to Africa, Haiti and El Salvador, calling them a “gross misrepresentation.”
“I’m telling you he did not use that word, George. And I’m telling you it’s a gross misrepresentation,” Sen. David Perdue told host George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday, suddenly recalling Trump’s comments after having said Friday he could not remember whether the commander in chief used the vulgar reference.
“The gross misrepresentation was that language was used in there that was not used and also that the tone of that meeting was not contributory and not constructive,” he said.
Perdue, of Georgia, attended the Thursday meeting with other lawmakers seeking to hammer out a deal on immigration when an aggravated Trump reportedly wondered aloud why the US accepts immigrants from “shithole countries” in Africa.
Initially he and Sen. Tom Cotton, another GOP attendee, issued a statement Friday saying they didn’t recall Trump using the term.
The Washington Post reported on the remarks later Thursday, with CNN sources affirming the “shithole” comment and Sen. Dick Durbin, the only Democrat at the meeting, confirmed the president’s use of the language the next day.
Cotton (R-Ark.) reiterated on Sunday that he didn’t hear Trump and questioned the Illinois lawmaker’s reliability.
“Sen. Durbin has a history of misrepresenting what happens in White House meetings, though. So perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised by that,” Cotton said on CBS’ “Face The Nation.”
But Durbin spokesman Ben Marter said the matter comes down to who you trust.
“Yesterday, Senators Cotton and Perdue ‘could not recall’ what the president said. Today they can. That, folks, is a credibility problem,” he tweeted Sunday.
And Rep. Mia Love, the first Haitian-American elected to Congress, called Trump’s comments were “racist.”
“I can’t defend the indefensible. There are countries that do struggle out there, but their people are good people. Their people are part of us. We’re Americans,” the Utah Republican said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
After the Washington Post reported the comments, Trump went on twitter to deny using the vulgar remarks while acknowledging that he used “tough language.”
But Durbin said Trump’s comments were accurately reported. Trump “said things which were hate-filled, vile and racist,” Durbin told reporters.
Durbin also said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) challenged the president after his remarks, speaking up about the important role immigrants play in the country.
Graham seemed to confirm Durbin’s version.
“I said my piece directly to him yesterday,” he said in a statement Friday. “I’ve always believed that America is an idea, not defined by its people but by its ideals.”
Source: New York Post
