WASHINGTON (AP) — The House's two top Republicans are avoiding directly addressing whether it was appropriate for President Donald Trump to say he'd listen to damaging information from a foreign entity about a political opponent.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and No. 2 GOP leader Steve Scalise have separately told reporters Thursday that questions about that are hypothetical.

McCarthy says foreign governments shouldn't interfere in U.S. elections. Scalise says he's seen Trump respond one way to a hypothetical question but react differently when an actual event occurs. He offered no specifics.

Both men accused Democrats of acting inappropriately during the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Trump made the remarks in a television interview Wednesday. He also said he wouldn't necessarily report such an offer to the FBI, which the FBI director has said should be done.