Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) — who says he corrected President Trump when he allegedly made a comment about African countries being a “shithole” — made a similar comment in 2013, calling Mexico and other Central American countries a “hellhole.”

Graham, in 2013, said during a Senate panel discussion that Mexico and other countries the majority of illegal aliens are deriving from are a “hellhole.”

Graham said at the time:

The people coming across the southern border live in hellholes. They don’t like that. They want to come here. Our problem is we can’t have everybody in the world who lives in a hellhole come to America There are 11 million people coming through the southern border ‘cause they come from countries where they can’t find work, and life is miserable. So it seems to me that if you can control who gets a job you’ve gone a long way in controlling illegal immigration. Because as long as the jobs are available in America you can’t build a fence high enough to stop people.

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Then-Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) — a long proponent of immigration policy that serves the interests of the American people — corrected Graham, saying, “It’s not a hellhole, it has great things going on in Mexico, we’re proud of the people in Mexico.”

Graham responded to Sessions, saying, “You’re right. I wasn’t slandering Mexico, I was just talking about all the places people want to leave, for whatever reason.”

On Thursday, a leaked discussion at the White House on immigration alleged Trump asked Senators why the U.S. was not prioritizing immigration from prosperous nations like Norway, rather than mass immigrating foreign nationals from Haiti, El Salvador, and other turmoil-ridden nations. The report claimed Trump called those turmoil-ridden nations a “shithole.”

Graham jumped on the comments on Friday, using the language of the open borders lobby to promote more “diversity” in the legal immigration system while claiming he reprimanded Trump for making the remark.

Graham said:

Following comments by the President, I said my piece directly to him 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. The American ideal is embraced by people all over the globe. It was best said a long time ago, E Pluribus Unum – Out of Many, One. Diversity has always been our strength, not our weakness. In reforming immigration we cannot lose these American Ideals.

Trump has denied using the word “shithole,” but did say he used “tough” language in the discussion about the large numbers of foreign nationals who arrive in the U.S. from under-developed regions of the world.

The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made – a big setback for DACA! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018

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