Lindsey Graham, Republican Senator from South Carolina took a swipe at fellow Republican Senators for their accounts about controversial comments President Trump made about immigrants from certain countries in a White House meeting last week. President Trump reportedly called the countries of Haiti, El Salvador and certain African nations “s—holes.”
Graham was among a group of Democratic and Republican Senators who were at the White House that day to discuss a solution to the DACA program and other immigration issues. After the meeting, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois told the press about the president’s remarks.
Graham told other senators who were not present that Durbin’s account of the president’s words was “basically accurate.” He also issued a statement the following the day in which he said that he said his “piece directly to [the President] yesterday. The president and all those attending the meeting know what I said and how I feel. I’ve always believed that America is an idea, not defined by its people but by its ideals,” Graham added.
The president has denied making the statements. Other Republican senators in the meeting such as David Perdue and Tom Cotton, said that they “don’t recall the president making those statements specifically.” But then seemed to change their accounts when Perdue said that the president’s comments have been “misrepresented” and Cotton said that he didn’t hear Trump say that exact word.
When asked again about the meeting, Graham in an apparent reference to Perdue and Cotton’s shifting stories, said that his story hasn’t changed. Graham said, “My memory hasn’t evolved. I know what was said and I know what I said.”
The president and Congress are locked in fierce negotiations over a spending bill that has to pass this week in order to avert a government shutdown. Democrats would like to see a permanent fix for the DACA program included in any spending bill and the president would like to see funding for a border along the southern border included.