President Trump’s comments about African countries and Haiti drew condemnation from around the world Friday, putting the White House and Republicans on the defensive while casting doubt on hopes of resolving disputes in the coming weeks over immigration legislation.
In a tweet Friday, Trump seemed to deny using the term “shithole” to refer to some countries during a private White House meeting Thursday, but acknowledged he used “tough” language during the negotiations. Among Republicans, there were differing responses to the comments, but few of them outright condemned his remarks.
The lone Democrat present for the Oval Office encounter said that Trump’s denial was false and the president “said things that were hate-filled, vile and racist.”
“I cannot believe that in the history of the White House, in that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak yesterday,” Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) told reporters.
In a sign that the outcry over Trump’s remarks is unlikely to abate quickly, senior House Democrats said that they planned next week to introduce a resolution censuring the president for his comments.
