Sen. Bill Cassidy William (Bill) Morgan CassidyCoushatta tribe begins long road to recovery after Hurricane Laura Senators offer disaster tax relief bill Bottom line MORE (R-La.) said on Friday that the leaking of 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's comments calling Haiti and African nations "shithole countries" during an Oval Office Meeting only works to undermine trust.

"It undermines trust going forward. Whatever was or was not said, if you disagree with what the fellow or gal says disagree with them publicly then but to go out and kind of report it is going to undermine trust," Cassidy said on the Fox News Channel.

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"Not [just] f

or this issue, but for future

issues, it's just a rule of

human contact, whether it's a

marriage, a friendship or a political

negotiation," he added.

Cassidy's comments come after The Washington Post reported Trump's comments on Thursday.

Trump denied the report in a tweet on Friday, saying that he did not use such language.

Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said “take them out.” Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings - unfortunately, no trust! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018

Sen. Dick Durbin Richard (Dick) Joseph DurbinMcConnell focuses on confirming judicial nominees with COVID-19 talks stalled Senate Republicans signal openness to working with Biden Top GOP senator calls for Biden to release list of possible Supreme Court picks MORE (D-Ill.), who was at the meeting, confirmed the comments on Friday.

“In the course of his comments, [Trump] said things that were hate-filled, vile and racist,” Durbin told reporters.

“I cannot believe in this history of the White House, in that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak yesterday," Durbin said.

Cassidy called the controversy a distraction and said lawmakers need to focus on the issue that was at hand during the Oval Office meeting: immigration.