Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson told an audience marking the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday Monday that he sometimes disagrees with President Trump’s rhetoric, in the wake of a furor over the president reportedly using a derogatory term to describe African nations.

“I’m a member of this administration, and I don’t agree with the president about everything that he says, or of how it’s said,” Mr. Carson said to shouts of affirmation from the crowd at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

Mr. Carson added, “If the way you say things is so inflammatory that people can’t hear your message, it’s not helpful, and that’s why I don’t do that anymore. I pray that God takes that spirit away from me and gives me the spirit of love.”

His comments were an apparent reference to a meeting on immigration last week in which Mr. Trump reportedly called African nations “sh—hole countries.” The president has denied making the remark, while lawmakers who attended the meeting have given differing accounts.

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