Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Friday called President Donald Trump's "s***hole countries" remarks as "inappropriate" before calling on Republican leaders to condemn them and saying that "we need to move on."
"The party ought to say it's inappropriate," Kasich, who competed against Trump for the 2016 nomination, told Jake Tapper on CNN.
"Frankly, he ought to apologize for it, OK? It's not a big deal.
"It just takes a little 'I'm sorry,' you know," he said.
Trump denied reportedly referring to Africa, Haiti and El Salvador as "s***hole countries" in a bipartisan meeting Thursday on the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program.
He tweeted Friday:
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of three Republicans at the White House meeting, said Friday that "I said my piece directly" to Trump "following comments by the president" — though he did not say whether Trump made the remarks.
The other two GOP members, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and Sen. David Perdue of Georgia, said in a statement that "we do not recall the president saying those comments specifically."
House Speaker Paul Ryan, however, was the only top party leader to comment on Trump's remarks, saying Friday that they were "very unfortunate and unhelpful."
"I think we can agree the language wasn't good," Kasich told Tapper. "President is saying he didn't say it because he knows it was a mistake.
"The leaders ought to have something to say."
Kasich later added: "We need to move on — and we need to take care of the Dreamers and take care of these people who are here legally.
"That's what I think we need to do," he added. "We need to move on."