President Trump called friends to brag about making controversial statements about immigrants from certain countries, conservative writer Erick Erickson wrote today. Erickson, in a tweet, wrote that he spoke to one of the friends in question and was told that the president believed it “would play well with the base.”
https://twitter.com/EWErickson/status/952569551450976257
The president reportedly said immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and other African nations come from “s—hole countries.”
Erickson also seemed to criticize attendees of the meeting in question for failing to remember the president’s comments when they were otherwise confirmed by the president himself. Erickson may have been alluding to two Republican senators who contend they did not hear President Trump make those comments.
Sens. David Perdue and Tom Cotton, wrote in a joint statement that they did not recall those specific comments. “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,” the two wrote. Both Perdue and Cotton have been strong supporters of President Trump’s and his immigration policies.
Senator Perdue has since said that the president’s comments have been misrepresented. “I’m telling you he did not use that word, George, and I’m telling you it’s a gross misrepresentation,” Perdue told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos this morning.
The president met with lawmakers at the White House to try to find a solution to the DACA immigration program. The president ended DACA in September but gave Congress six months to come up with a permanent solution for is recipients. Lawmakers are trying to find an immigration compromise that includes DACA legislation as well as funding for a border wall. A solution needs to be found this week in order to avoid a government shutdown.