HARTFORD (AP) — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has directed the flag of Haiti to be flown at governor's Hartford residence in response to vulgar remarks attributed to President Donald Trump about immigrants from Africa and Haiti.

The Democrat said Friday the nation's diversity should be celebrated, not denigrated.

The Haitian flag was also flown at Hartford City Hall.

Senate Republican President Pro Tempore Len Fasano says the president's comments were "beyond inappropriate and offensive" and "fly in the face of what it means to be Republican and an American."

Fasano, who declined to be a Trump delegate, called on Trump to "apologize for these disrespectful and outrageous comments."

Trump disputes accounts of the language he used during Thursday's meeting with U.S. senators, but hasn't denied the most controversial word attributed to him.