House Speaker Paul Ryan said Friday that President Trump’s comments were “unfortunate” and “unhelpful.”
“I read those comments later last night. So first thing that came to my mind was very unfortunate, unhelpful, but you know what I thought of right away? I thought about my own family,” Mr. Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, said at an event in Wisconsin.
Mr. Ryan said his family came from Ireland and worked on railroads until they were able to buy a farm and start their own business. He said that regardless of what Mr. Trump said, however, lawmakers need to come together on so-called Dreamers, or those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
“We just have to get it done,” Mr. Ryan said.
Mr. Trump’s alleged comments from a closed-door meeting with lawmakers leaked late Thursday in a Washington Post report. The president reportedly called certain countries, including Haiti, “s—-hole” places when discussing immigration issues from those areas. He defended himself on Twitter Friday morning, arguing that he used “tough” language, but did not make those exact comments.
Mr. Ryan added that any legislation for Dreamers will be separate from a budget, however, saying that it’s “not good government” to group big issues together.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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