Despite the fact that his own press office didn’t deny it, and despite the fact that other White House officials boasted yesterday that the comment would appeal to his base of supporters, Donald Trump is now denying he called Haiti and African nations “shithole countries.”

Well, sort of denying it. His tweet is weirdly phrased, perhaps deliberately.

The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018

And of course, as we all knew already, Trump is lying again. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who was at the meeting, confirmed to the New York Times that Trump said this — and more: Senator Insists Trump Used ‘Vile and Racist’ Language.

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday offered a vague denial about the language he chose to use about immigrants during a private meeting with lawmakers at the White House on Thursday, when he reportedly referred to African nations as “shithole countries.”

But Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, said on Friday that the president did use the term “shithole” during the course of the meeting on immigration — which Mr. Durbin attended. The senator described Mr. Trump as saying “things which were hate-filled, vile and racist.”