A conservative columnist said President Trump Donald John TrumpObama calls on Senate not to fill Ginsburg's vacancy until after election Planned Parenthood: 'The fate of our rights' depends on Ginsburg replacement Progressive group to spend M in ad campaign on Supreme Court vacancy MORE called friends to brag after the meeting in which the president reportedly referred to Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as "shithole countries."

"It’s weird that people in the room don’t remember Trump using that word when Trump himself was calling friends to brag about it afterwards," Erick Erickson, who has in the past been critical of Trump, said in a tweet.

"I spoke to one of those friends. The President thought it would play well with the base."

It’s weird that people in the room don’t remember Trump using that word when Trump himself was calling friends to brag about it afterwards. I spoke to one of those friends. The President thought it would play well with the base. — Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) January 14, 2018

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Trump faced widespread backlash and accusations of racism after a report he disparaged several nations during a meeting with lawmakers at the White House.

“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” Trump reportedly asked, referring to immigrants from African nations, Haiti and El Salvador.

The White House initially did not deny the comment, which came as lawmakers work on an immigration deal.

In a tweet Friday morning, Trump denied he said "anything derogatory about Haitians."