Durbin dismisses 2 GOP senators’ claim
WASHINGTON — Sen. Dick Durbin is standing by his assertion that President Donald Trump questioned why the country has to accept immigrants from “shithole” countries, after two Republican colleagues belatedly disputed the Illinois Democrat.
“I know what happened. I stand behind every word that I said in terms of that meeting,” Durbin said on Monday about the president’s remarks at a White House meeting last week on immigration.
Durbin also dismissed reports attributed to unnamed White House aides that Trump said “shithouse” rather than “shithole.” He told reporters in Illinois, “I am stunned that this is their defense.”
Trump lashed out at Durbin on Monday, taking to Twitter to say he “totally misrepresented what was said” at a meeting.
Trump said Durbin “blew” efforts to reach a deal on immigration, including addressing the fate of people brought to the U.S. illegally as children who are covered under the program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.
“Senator Dicky Durbin totally misrepresented what was said at the DACA meeting. Deals can’t get made when there is no trust! Durbin blew DACA and is hurting our Military,” Trump tweeted.
On Sunday, Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia, who along with Durbin were among seven lawmakers at the White House meeting Thursday, denied that the president used the word and questioned Durbin’s overall honesty. Their comments were met with widespread skepticism because both Republicans said last week that they “do not recall” if Trump made the comment.
Also on Sunday, conservative writer Rich Lowry suggested on ABC’s “This Week,” and a Washington Post reporter tweeted, that some White House aides believe Trump said “shithouse,” not “shithole.” While it hardly would change Trump’s meaning, the difference is said to be the basis for Cotton and Perdue to deny the president said what Durbin claimed.
Speaking to reporters in Illinois, Durbin insisted he was correct. He added, “I don’t know that changing the word from ‘hole’ to ‘house’ changes the impact which this has. This speaks toward America and its view toward immigration” and is a message “inconsistent with the values of this country.”
Durbin said the White House should release any recording of the conversation that might exist.
Another Republican at the meeting, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, has implicitly affirmed Durbin’s account in a statement. In his latest remarks, in an interview on Monday with The Post and Courier of Charleston, S.C., he again wouldn’t explicitly confirm the vulgarity but did seem to take a dig at Cotton and Perdue’s changing accounts.
“My memory hasn’t evolved. I know what was said and I know what I said,” Graham said.
Tribune writer Monique Garcia contributed.