Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said it "undermines trust" for lawmakers to leak comments allegedly made by President Donald Trump on Thursday during a bipartisan meeting in the Oval Office on immigration, The Hill reported Friday.
"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 told Fox News.
"Not [just] for this issue, but for future issues," he added. "It's just a rule of human contact, whether it's a marriage, a friendship or a political negotiation."
Cassidy maintained the controversy was a distraction, saying lawmakers needed to focus on solutions for immigration issues.
Trump on Thursday reportedly made vulgar comments when talking about protections for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African nations. On Friday, the president denied he said the reported comments.
Trump tweeted Friday:
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who was at the Thursday meeting, said Friday Trump did indeed make the comments, telling reporters Trump's words were "hate-filled, vile and racist."
"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.