White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters that President Donald Trump would not apologize after his reported comment about not accepting immigrants from “shithole countries.”

“The president hasn’t said he didn’t use strong language, and this is an important issue. He’s passionate about it. He’s not going to apologize for trying to fix our immigration system,” Sanders said in a brief conversation with reporters outside of the White House.

The Associated Press, CNN, and CBS News detailed Sanders’ response to the ongoing controversy over the president’s comment.

On Friday, Trump said that the reported comment was “not the language used,” although he admitted it was “tough.”

She called Democrats’ claims that the president is a racist “outrageous.”

“Why did NBC give him a show for a decade on TV?” she asked. “Why did Chuck Schumer and all of his colleagues come and beg Donald Trump for money?”