Article snippet: The controversy over MORE’s reported use of the phrase “shithole countries” to describe several nations showed no sign of easing on Sunday, as lawmakers wrestled over the comment and what it means for immigration negotiations. While lawmakers from both parties condemned the reported remark, some stopped short of labeling the president a racist, and two Republican senators either denied hearing the comment or said that the president did not utter the words. Sen. MORE (R-Ky.) said that while he did not think the remark was “constructive,” he also believes it is “unfair” to label Trump a racist. “You can't have an immigration compromise if everybody's out there calling the president a racist,” Paul told NBC’s “Meet the Press. “But both sides now are destroying the setting in which anything meaningful can happen on immigration.” Democratic Sen. MORE (D-Colo.), meanwhile, would not go so far as to call Trump a racist, but said “there’s no question” that the comment the president allegedly made during a White House meeting with lawmakers last week was racist. “I was raised not to call people racist on the theory that it was hard for them to be rehabilitated once you said that,” Bennet said during an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “But there’s no question what he said was racist. There’s no question what he said was un-American and completely unmoored from the facts.” Rep. MORE (D-Ga.) was not as generous, however, telling ABC that he thinks Trump is a racist an... Link to the full article to read more