Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., took a dig at fellow Republican senators David Perdue of Georgia and Tom Cotton of Arkansas over their denial that President Trump called Haiti, El Salvador, and African nations “shithole countries.”
“My memory hasn’t evolved,” Graham told the Post and Courier. “I know what was said, and I know what I said.”
Graham, Perdue, and Cotton were among a bipartisan group of senators that attended an Oval Office meeting with Trump last week to discuss a potential immigration deal. During the meeting, the president reportedly referred to other nations as “shithole countries,” which he has denied.
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., confirmed Trump made the remark, as well as other derogatory comments. Graham told Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., that press reports detailing Trump’s comments were “basically accurate.”
But Perdue and Cotton said Friday they “do not recall the president saying those comments specifically,” and in interviews Sunday, both senators denied Trump used the term “shithole” to describe Haiti, El Salvador, and African nations.
Perdue called characterizations of the president’s remarks a “gross misrepresentation,” and Cotton said he didn’t hear Trump say “shithole.”
Graham told the Post and Courier he found the meeting last week to be “disappointing” and called it “a step backward.” But the South Carolina senator said he will continue working to come to an agreement on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which ends in March.
“We’re not going [to] get there by the president tweeting,” he said. “We’re not going to get there by him trying to blame Democrats. That’s not going to work. The only pathway forward is a bipartisan deal.”
